


The Mystery of the New Girl at Hogwarts

by spIDERFOASJDFAWKEJ



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Blood, Bullying, Depression, Eating Disorders, F/M, Fluff, Graphic desciptions of abuse, Haphephobia, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Mentioned Eating Disorders, Might move fast I'm sorry I'm working on my pacing, Not Beta Read, Other, Panic Attacks, Problems asking for help, Problems sharing feelings, Romance, Self-Harm, Strong Language, Suicidal Thoughts, Swords, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, Trust Issues, War, We Die Like Men, Yes the story might sound outlandish I'm sorry lol, but not really, graphic descriptions of self-harm, it's four am, kind of beta read, mentions of Haphephobia, more tags will be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:09:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 28
Words: 35,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24567484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spIDERFOASJDFAWKEJ/pseuds/spIDERFOASJDFAWKEJ
Summary: When a new girl turns up in the middle of the school year along with some friends, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, and their friends/accomplices are determined to figure out who she is and why she's suddenly turning up in the middle of the school year. Worried they won't figure it out before something irreversible occurs, it's a race against the clock to figure out what exactly is happening at Hogwarts.**I do not own the Harry Potter or Percy Jackson series. All characters belong to J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. However, I do own this story, so please do not post this elsewhere.**Viewer Discretion is advised as some scenes are graphic/triggering and this fic also includes very strong language in some parts. There are trigger warnings before every chapter; read at your own risk.
Relationships: Background relationships - Relationship, F/M - Relationship, Greek Mythology - Relationship, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, May have some Drarry, Maybe M/M, Maybe M/M/F, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace (mentioned), Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase (mentioned)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. Her Arrival

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Coming of Nico di Angelo](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3826450) by [ninjagirlmai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninjagirlmai/pseuds/ninjagirlmai). 
  * Inspired by [The Rivalry of Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4566726) by [Pseudonymous_Entity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pseudonymous_Entity/pseuds/Pseudonymous_Entity). 



> **The title of this fic might change**  
> To preface: everyone in this fic is around 14-16, so that's why it's tagged as underage. I'm not sure what year of Hogwarts that would be for Harry and his friends but I hope you enjoy this nonetheless!
> 
> *This work was also inspired by other works (listed above) and I recommend reading them. They're amazing and well-written. If you want more Nico Di Angelo & Harry Potter crossovers, "The Coming Of Nico Di Angelo" is perfect for you. If you want to read an amazing (but unfinished) Drarry piece, then "The Rivalry of Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter" is something I think you should check out. While it is unfinished, it's amazing so far and I'm sure the author would love some support! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of self-harm and suicidal thoughts

Draco looked up from his table. A hush had fallen over the Great Hall, and everyone was staring at something. No, someone. It was a girl and a few other kids, all talking quietly. The only weird things about her and her friends were: A) Hogwarts _never_ got new students in the middle of the year, and B) the girl was floating. Just... straight off the ground. Floating. No wand in sight, no obvious potion effects on her. She was just... floating. Looking up from her conversation with the boy next to her, she realized that she was being stared at and promptly returned her feet to the ground. The boy that she had been talking to nudged her, and she shot him a glare before smiling softly. Looking up, she seemed to realize just _how many_ kids were staring at her, and shrunk a bit. Her friends, too, seemed nervous. Everyone was about to start talking again when the headmaster of Hogwarts himself, Albus Dumbledore, walked into the Hall. "Good afternoon, students. As you can see, we have some... new faces," the Headmaster said, resting a hand on the girl's shoulder. Draco didn't miss the way she tensed up slightly, eyes scanning the room, either looking for an escape or trying to memorize faces. Her eyes landed on Draco and stopped. She tilted her head slightly, looking kind of like a puppy. It was cute, he decided. This girl was cute. Focusing back on her, he realized her face had turned slightly pink and her eyes were now elsewhere. _Can she hear my thoughts?_ he wondered. _No_ , he decided. _That's unheard of_. Looking for where her eyes were focused now, he realized they had landed on the boy next to him.Draco was pretty sure his name was Nico, and he was a new kid from earlier in the year. He was staring back, and he seemed to be almost lost in thought. The new girl didn't change her gaze, continuing to stare. Just then, the Headmaster clapped his hands together, ending his little speech. Startled, she flinched so hard she almost knocked herself over. Her friends cast her worried glances, but Dumbledore didn't seem to notice. Typical. "...and we ask that you treat them with respect," he finished, walking out and leaving the kids alone. The girl's friends immediately turned towards her, concerned. After a minute or so, she left and they stared after her. Draco thought he heard the shortest in the group ask if she should follow her friend. "Nah," said the tallest, who sounded kind of condescending. "Just leave her, you know how she can be sometimes," he continued. ' _How she_ _can be sometimes_ '? _What does that mean?_

Hearing movement, Draco saw the kid next to him get up and leave. Glancing across the hall, he saw Potter, Granger, and Weasley start to follow Nico and immediately decided that he had to do the same. Leaving the lunch table, he followed Potter and hid with him and his friends so they could listen to the conversation between the boy and the girl. "Didn't think you'd be the one stalking me, Malfoy," Potter hissed, almost smiling. "Don't flatter yourself, Potter," he responded, frowning. "Now be quiet, I'm trying to listen."

Going silent, the four turned their attention to the conversation.

"Hey Neeks," the girl said, almost hesitantly.

"Hey," he responded.

"Your father sends his regards," the girl said softly, looking down.

"Just his regards? Nothing else? No: 'Hey son, I know you're busy trying to catch someone that cheated death two times in a faraway land that you've never heard of before because I told you to but you're doing a good job and I'm proud of you'?" The boy responded, getting louder.

"Nico... there's a war going on. You _know_ he's busy and conflicted with his two personalities. He also told me to tell you that your quest is currently on hold. Losing another child of Hades would be an absolute nightmare. We had to evacuate everyone last week because even the Demigods weren't safe. That's why I'm here," the girl said, now looking at Nico and sounding much calmer than him, as though the war didn't bother her.

"You... evacuated the Demigods? Is everyone safe? Are Percy and Annabeth okay? What about Hazel? Or Leo? Or-" the girl cut him off, speaking louder than him.

"Nico, everyone is fine. Hazel is safe, Percy and Annabeth are staying at boarding school, I got sent here, and Leo is in a very loving foster home that has lots of woods for him to get lost in. Also, that Apollo kid wants you to know he misses you, anything you forgot to tell me there?" She sounded amused, almost teasing. 

"What? Did Will say that? Nothing is going on between us, I promise," he replied, staring her dead in the face, not smiling or laughing. "I'll have to talk to him when I get back or something," he continued. The girl gave him a once-over and quietly said: "You're lying. Why are you lying?"

"I'm not-" Nico tried, getting cut off.

"You know I can tell when you're lying, Neeks."

Blowing out a breath, he looked up and closed his eyes, not speaking. The girl frowned softly, looking down. 

"What's happening?" Harry whispered, looking confused.

"No idea," Hermione said, sounding equally as confused. Draco continued watching, listening more intently as the girl talked even quieter.

"Hey Neeks?" she asked, not looking up.

"Yeah?"

"I know you're cutting again," she whispered. "Why?"

"I..."

"Nico."

She was now looking directly at him, not moving.

"Why? There are so many people out there who love you, and you have so much to live for," the girl said, her gaze never wavering from his eyes. Draco wondered what it'd be like to have that intense stare turned on him. Wondered what color her eyes were. Sure, Draco didn't think he was very into girls, but he knew a pretty girl when he saw one.

"What do I have to live for, El?" Nico asked, now staring at the floor. 

_Is that her name?_ Draco thought. _El?_ _No, it's got to be a nickname. No one has a name made up of only two letters, that'd be weird._

"Me, Percy, Annebeth, Hazel, your dad, hell, even this _quest_. This is how you're going to make your father proud right? You can't show him that you're worthy of more tasks in the future if you're dead. And what about Will? He's so sweet, and he seems to care about you. Do you want to leave him behind? Leave all of us behind? We love you, Neeks. Can't you see that?" 

Her voice was shaking ever so slightly now, so slightly that Harry and the others probably didn't notice it. 

"I... I know. It's just hard sometimes, you know? Everyone at this godforsaken school either hates me or thinks I'm up to no good, and they won't give me a break. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to just... never get out of bed or stay in the dorms all day. Sometimes I get close to acting on it, too."

The girl, presumably 'El', didn't move. 

"I wish I could hug you right now," she spoke softly as if speaking too loud would break the moment.

"Me too," Nico responded. 

Draco heard footsteps behind him and resisted the urge to turn around instead facing forward and trying to act as though he belonged behind a pillar, watching some kids talk. Next to him, Harry shifted uncomfortably.

"Maybe we should leave... I think we've heard enough."

"Agreed," Hermione said. Draco went with the three, trying to put the puzzle pieces in his head together.

_Okay, so we know she doesn't like being touched because she flinched when Dumbledore touched her earlier. Isn't there a name for that? A phobia? Next: can she read minds?? She and that boy seemed to be communicating at one point without speaking. Also: What's her name? Why is she here? Why are her friends here? What are Demigods? Who is Hades?? What 'quest' could Nico possibly be here for? Urgh, none of this makes sense!_

Giving up, Draco returned to his dorm, pushing the mystery to the back of his mind and getting ready for bed. He could think about this tomorrow, maybe Potter or his bratty friends had some leads. Right now, it was time to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this. Recently I've been getting really into the Harry Potter fandom (as well as Drarry) and I wanted to write something. If you're into more Nico Di Angelo and Harry Potter crossovers, check out the links that are listed at the top in my notes. The top one is a crossover, but both are very well written and I enjoyed reading them a lot. I'm not sure how long this fic will be or how regular my updates will be (if you've read my other work you'll know that I don't have a regular update schedule at all haha) but I hope that you enjoy it! Criticism is always welcome, and I do take requests if that's something you're interested in. Just drop a comment or PM me (my email's on my profile). Happy reading! :))


	2. Her First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our new student gets ready for her first (terrifying) day at a new school. How will it go?

Waking up in the morning, Draco got ready and headed down to breakfast, already turning the mystery over in his mind. Head filled with questions, he walked into the Hall and sat down with his Slytherin friends in their usual spots. Across the way, Potter was taking his seat as well. Looking around, Draco looked for the girl, but she wasn't there. _Didn't she skip lunch and dinner yesterday? Weird._ Starting to eat (and still keeping an eye out for that mysterious girl), Draco aimlessly chatted back and forth with his friends. Eventually, he saw her friends walk in and sat up straighter, trying to get a better view. "You'd think he was obsessed with that new girl," Pansy whispered to Blaise. He nodded, watching as Draco continued to look. "Oh, get over it man," Vincent said, rather loudly. "She's not coming to breakfast, chill out."

Draco didn't respond. Most of her friends sat at the Hufflepuff table, with one heading to Griffindor and another heading to Ravenclaw. Still no sign of the girl. _Maybe she slept in_ , he thought. Finishing breakfast, he stood up abruptly and made up some excuse so he could get out of there and look for her. "I have to get to potions early, Snape wanted to see me about something," Draco mumbled. His friends barely even looked up. _Some friends they are_.

**~POV change~**

El woke up alone. The bronze and blue on the curtains surrounding her bed made her eyes hurt. "I'm late for breakfast, aren't I?" she asked herself quietly. She realized that she wasn't that hungry, even though she hadn't eaten since yesterday morning (and even so, the only thing she'd had was a bottled frappuccino before getting on the train to Hogwarts). Deciding to skip breakfast, she took another look at her class schedule. Faking being a witch was going to be weird. Sure, she could do a few things that might be considered 'magic', but she didn't use spells or anything like that. _I hope today won't be like yesterday_ , she thought. The train that she and her friends had taken is only apparently a few times a year, and the stares she had gotten while departing the train was not a feeling that she wanted to remember. Sure, she was new, and sure, she didn't intend to wear the uniform Hogwarts required, and sure, she didn't own or use a wand, but that was no excuse for the way they stared. She had already been able to hear the whispers and rumors starting about her when she walked -or rather, levitated- into the 'Great Hall' (As the students called it. She preferred the word cafeteria, being American and all), and she didn't want a repeat of her previous years at school. Relentless bullying and torment for years. After finding out she was a Demigod, meeting all of her 'cousins' (Why so many? Why did she need them at all? They didn't like her, no one ever did.), and being transferred to a fantasy land that she'd never heard of, she kind of thought of this as a fresh start. Then she fucked it all up yesterday by _forgetting_ that people don't just float. How could she forget? 

Sighing, El picked up her schedule that she had left on her nightstand last night, realizing she had gotten lost in thought. The kids were bound to come back soon, and she wanted to get used to the school without anyone around. Most of the teachers knew of her 'situation', and they weren't going to make her use wands or perform spells that she couldn't fake, but she still had to fit in. _Let's see: Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, History of Magic on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Dark Arts_ **(A/N- based on what I've found, during this time it was 'Dark Arts' and not 'Defense against the Dark Arts')** _, Astronomy, Herbology, Muggle Studies (Yay!!), and Care of Magical Creatures on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Ugh._ So many classes. Why so many?? Middle school and high school only had seven that you had to take- five core classes and two electives. Having to buy all the books for these classes was already making her shoulder hurt. _Don't forget tests, essays, homework, and... group projects_. Shuddering, El hoped she wouldn't have to do too many group projects. She hated those, and she was always the only one who did all the work. Either that or the group hated her and would exclude her, only letting her put together the final presentation and then making her do the presenting (AKA the _worst_ part of a group project). Hearing voices, she looked towards her doorway. _Crap!_ The kids were getting back. They already looked down on her for some reason (And while she was a little upset that she had a dorm to herself because no one wanted to share with her, she wasn't complaining.) and she didn't want to piss them off. Ravenclaws weren't normally considered aggressive, but she wouldn't put it past them. Checking her watch, she realized her first class (Potions, which was awful) was in ten minutes. She'd spent the whole time here and not out exploring!! Wasn't Julie back yet?? She'd promised her that they'd look around the school (before El had decided she wanted to go by herself), and El wanted to compare schedules and walk to class together. "El, hey!!" 

Glancing up, El saw Julie heading entering her room and heading towards her quickly.

"Your first class is Potions, right? I passed it on the way back from breakfast, we can go together! By the way, I brought you something to eat in case you 'aren't hungry' later."

Julie was speaking a mile a minute, and El was having trouble keeping up. A random girl passed by the doorway and said something she couldn't make out. Julie laughed, saying a quick "See you later!" to her before turning her attention back to El and handing her a chocolate-filled croissant.

"Unfortunately, I don't have Potions with you but I think we might have some other classes together. My first class is in the same direction you're going, so do you wanna walk together?"

Julie looked hopeful, but El didn't know what to say. She didn't feel like walking to class together anymore. What had that girl said to Julie? Was it about her? Was Julie telling people about her problems or how she acted before she got here? Was she telling everyone that they weren't _real_ witches and wizards?? 

"Um... no, that's okay. You must be busy, I can walk by myself," El responded quietly, the feeling crushing her on the inside. She wanted nothing more than to talk with Julie and walk with her to class, but Julie probably had more important things to do than walk with her. That, or she'd talk the whole time without letting El get a word in. Not that El didn't mind, (she never had anything worth saying anyway) but she still wanted to talk sometimes. 

Julie's smile faltered. "Oh... okay. I'll see you at lunch then?"

"Maybe. I'll see you in our other classes, though," El answered, quietly.

"Okay!"

Julie left El's room happily, joining up with some other girls and conversing with them as though she'd known them for years. El frowned, gathering up her books and leaving, following Julie. After reaching the classroom she was supposed to be at with little trouble, she took a deep breath to prepare herself for this class (mentally) and stepped inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! I hope you guys like this one because I'm enjoying writing this series. The new girl's name is not El, but you should be learning what it is soon. If you see any issues, let me know!


	3. The Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our new girl starts getting closer to Draco, which causes some unexpected tensions between houses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Eating disorders, mild descriptions of violence
> 
> A/N: I forgot to say where this takes place, so I'll say it here. This is in a secluded hallway outside the Great Hall. No one has seen or witnessed this incident besides the five involved.

Draco was already inside potions, setting up. As usual, the seat next to him was empty. It normally was. "Um- excuse me. Sorry, I'm so, so sorry. Is this seat taken?" 

Looking up, Draco saw the new girl, flustered and apologizing for interrupting his thought process.

"No! I mean, no, you're good to sit here, this seat is rarely taken," Draco responded, feeling as shaken as that poor girl looked. "What's your name?" Draco asked, feeling curious.

"Elizabelle, but everyone calls me El or Ella. What's yours?"

"Draco Malfoy" 

He waited for the look of disgust or fear, but Ella's expression remained the same: curious and slightly wary.

"That's a cool name. I've never met anyone named Draco before," she said, smiling slightly. Draco liked that he made her smile, and he knew that he wanted to make her smile more. Again, her cheeks turned pink and she looked away quickly. Draco was about to ask if she was okay but then Snape started class and there wasn't any more time for talking. 

**~Time skip to the end of Potions~**

"And I expect that essay to be ready by this Friday. It will be four pages long and you _will_ write both neatly and in ink."

Snape finished his lesson, ending the class with a curt "Dismissed."

Ella stood up to grab her things, putting her books into the messenger bag that she carried. _A muggle thing_ , Draco thought. _I wonder if she was raised by them?_

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Ella started speaking

"And I was thinking that we could walk to our next class together if it's in the same direction and if you wanted to." 

She finished her statement carefully, fidgeting with a loose thread on her bag.

"Sure! What's your next class? Mine's Charms."

"Really? No way! Mine is too!" Draco smiled, really smiled at the new girl. He hadn't smiled in so long, he'd forgotten what it felt like.

"Ready to go then?" she asked, smiling back softly.

"Yeah, let's go!"

Walking off chatting about everything and nothing, and Draco couldn't remember a time he'd felt happier.

**~POV change~**

"Malfoy's getting close to that new girl..." Harry trailed off, watching the two walk away.

"Oh, Harry, I'm sure she's still single," Hermione muttered absently.

"What? No- that's not what I- I didn't mean-" Harry was cut off by Ron.

"Relax mate, she's joking," he said. "I'm sure Malfoy has no ill intent towards her, I mean look at the two! He's _laughing_ , Harry. We've never seen him laugh."

"I doubt that he's laughing with her, more at her," Harry mumbled. "Something's going on, I know it. We've never had new students and all of a sudden this girl shows up in the _middle of the year_. That's never happened, _ever._ Now all of a sudden she's buddy-buddy with Malfoy and talking to Nico? We know Nico's up to something. We need to figure out _what_ is going on before Nico and Malfoy convince her to do something or trick her into doing something that she's not comfortable with."

Harry looked at his friend's faces, and they seemed unconvinced. "I don't know Harry... she's nervous about being here, you can see it in her face. Maybe we should leave her be for a bit until we know more about what's going on," Hermione replied. "Yeah," Ron agreed. "Let's just wait, okay mate?"

Harry bit his lower lip and stared at the floor for a minute. "Okay. Let's give it a day or so?"

Hermione thought about it for a second, then nodded. "Fine. We can observe them for a bit and make sure they aren't acting too suspicious, then decide where to take it from there."

The three walked off to their next class, which was Transfiguration.

**~Time skip and POV change~**

"Oh my god, I know right? So weird," Draco agreed as they headed to lunch. "You ready to eat?" he asked.

"Oh, uh, I'm not hungry," she responded, looking down. "I have food to eat, so don't worry. I'm sorry." She sounded sad, Draco thought.

"Okay, well if you ever need someone to sit with at meals there's a spot for you at the Slytherin table," Draco offered.

"Yeah, Nico said that too," she laughed, then continued. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass. I need to look more at my classes and stuff, I'll see you later though!" 

Turning on a heel, she walked off, heading towards her dorm room. Draco watched her go.

"Malfoy! What are you doing to that poor girl?" A familiar voice made Draco turn around. Potter. He should've known he'd try to screw things up. "What now, Potter? Going to accuse me of trying to hurt her or something? That I'm a death eater that's trying to convert her? That I'm-" Draco was cut off by Potter.

"I'm not sure what you're doing to her, but no one will ever be genuinely attracted to you, ever. So what is it, Malfoy? Paying her? Is your father using her too? Maybe-" 

Draco hit him. Like, _re_ _ally_ hit him. Heard the crunch of his nose under his fist, saw the blood gush out, but didn't feel any pain in his fist. _Must be the shock_ , he thought. Pulling back, Draco decided one time was enough and stared at the mess that was now Potter's nose. _Oops_. 

"Don't you ever, _ever_ , accuse me of _anything_ like that again, or I'll do more damage than that. How dare you? And my father? Potter, how old are you?" Draco looked unimpressed. Harry held his nose, not crying like Draco thought he might. "I-" Draco cut him off. "I'm sorry she wants to talk with me more than you. I'm sorry she prefers my company to yours. I guess I'm just better at talking to girls than you are. Accuse me of sexual assault or manipulation again and you _will_ regret it. Understand?"

Draco stood, waiting for an answer. No response. " _U_ _nderstand?_ " He asked again, more forcefully.

"Harry!" Great. The other two from the 'Golden Trio'. Stupid name, if you asked him. 

"Malfoy! What did you do to him?" Ron asked, angry. Draco opened his mouth to respond before he was cut off by someone else

"Isn't it obvious? He punched him in the face. The kid deserved it too, accusing him of sexual assault or manipulation," Everyone turned. The girl. "Ella!" Draco said, seeming happier. "I thought you were going back to your dorm?" he asked, curious.

"I was, and then I realized I was hungry so I came down to get some food and overheard this and-" she cut herself off, embarrassed. "Sorry. Anyways. He's not manipulating or assaulting me. No one will, period. You guys are insane for thinking that _and_ for putting Potter up to this. Honestly, on my first day too. Can't I catch a break? God..." she trailed off, realizing that she was being stared at. Blushing, she looked down, mumbling something that no one caught. After a while, she looked back up, saying "I can fix his nose if you want. I know how and I can do it much faster than you guys could," shrinking into herself at the stares she received, Hermione was the first to speak up. "I mean, sure. If you can fix him quickly, that's fine. I think Ron and I need to talk to him anyway."

Her eyes widened, almost as though she hadn't expected anyone to stay yes. "O-Okay," she said, walking over to Harry and kneeling by him. Carefully, she reached out and placed a hand on his face. "Um... I have to set it back in place so it doesn't heal crooked... this will hurt for a second, I'm sorry," _She apologizes a lot_ , Draco thought. Ella looked up, eyes finding one of his friends. "You might want to like, restrain him so he doesn't punch me, that's happened before." Hermione went over to Harry and carefully pinned his arms down without hurting him. There was a _crunch_ and a yelp of pain from Harry, and then his nose was back in place. Ella examined him, happy with the setting of the cartilage, then continued. Resting a hand on his face, she closed her eyes and concentrated. After a second or so, the swelling went down and it seemed less... broken. Standing, she brushed her hands together and simply said "All better!" and walked away, now towards her dorm. Draco supposed she lost her appetite. He didn't blame her. Looking at Harry, Hermione, and Ron, he realized they looked shell-shocked. He probably looked the same. "How did she...? No wand! Wandless magic! It's never been heard of, only known as a myth!!" Hermione was on a rampage. "I _have_ to talk to her, I _need_ to know how to do that!" Ron placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. "You can talk to her later 'Mione. I'm sure we'll see her again, and we have potions together. Also, doesn't she have a friend who's in Gryffindor? You can talk to them as well."

 _What in Merlin's name was that?_ Draco wondered. "Class is gonna start soon, you should get going Malfoy," Ron said. "Hermione and I need to have a chat with Harry." 

"Alright," Draco said carefully. "Granger, Weasley ...Potter."

He nodded at each when he said their last name, saying 'Potter' with more disgust than necessary before leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters so close together? I'm impressed with myself. Once again, I'm sorry for any typos or errors that this might have. I hope y'all enjoyed this one! Happy reading :)


	4. Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabelle has a date with a mystery boy. Potter and Malfoy stop by to watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Eating disorders

The rest of the day flew by for Ella, and before she knew it, it was dinner time. Despite not eating, she didn't feel hungry. The idea of eating anything _besides_ McDonald's made her feel sick. Sure, her stomach hurt (a lot), but she didn't _need_ food right now. Right? Whatever. She had to go to the Astronomy tower later anyways because she had a date. It may not be a 'real' date but she still wanted to look nice. Glancing at the clock she had hung on her wall, she saw she had an about an hour before she had to be there. Just enough time to get ready. She showered, dried her hair, changed into a nice dress (but not _too_ nice, she was still at Hogwarts), and put on a tiny bit of makeup. _15 minutes. Enough time to finish that essay and head over to the tower._

Ten minutes later, the essay for Snape was done and Ella was leaving the dorm. She walked to the tower, not taking too long but not being too quick. He arrived when she did and smiled at her. She smiled back and embraced him. After a second she let go, smiling at him.

"Hello, Ryan."

**~POV change and time rewind to when dinner starts~**

Draco looked around at dinner for a while before realizing that Elizabelle probably wasn't going to show up. Sighing, he focused on his friends right as they finished asking him something. "...don't you agree, Draco?" Pansy asked, staring at him. 

"Sorry, what'd you say?" Draco massaged his forehead, feeling a headache start to come on. _Great_. Just what he needed. Pansy rolled her eyes, then repeated the question.

"I _said_ , Snape's being outrageous with these essays, don't you agree? We had three last week in addition to the in-class assignments. I mean, really. So unfair," Pansy paused, looking at Draco's expression before continuing. "Anyway, we're going to Hogsmead this weekend and we want you to come with us. You can even bring that girl you're so obsessed with," Pansy finished, smiling.

Draco thought about it for a bit, then got up. "Yeah, I'll come with, and I'm _not_ obsessed with her. Just trying to be friendly," he said, leaving. Pansy and Blaise exchanged a look. "Sure," she muttered under her breath as he walked away.

Draco didn't know where he was walking, he just needed to leave. He wasn't obsessed, he _wasn't_. He just wanted to be friends with someone who had never heard the name 'Malfoy', who had no problems with his family, who would look at him without being scared. He didn't _like_ her like that. Glancing around, he realized that he was near the Astronomy tower. Potter was here, watching somethi- wait, why was Potter here? He didn't come up here this late, said he didn't like the way the sky looked at night. What was he watching? Draco walked over quickly, trying to be quiet. "Potter, what-" Draco was quickly cut off with an "Shh!" from Potter, and a point to the center of the tower. There was the new girl, cuddled up next to a kid who was showing her something. He was shorter than she was, but she didn't seem to care. "Are they... more than friends?" Draco whispered, glancing at Potter. He looked kind of upset- was he _jealous_? "Looks that way..." he said, trailing off. 

"Are you going to keep watching them, Potter? Kind of creepy, yeah?" 

Potter glared at him, and it took all Draco had to not smack that look off of his face. "We should leave... being here isn't right and you know it," Draco continued. "Oh yeah?" Potter challenged. "Since when are you the one who willingly takes the high road?"

Draco glanced around, hoping Potter hadn't been too loud. _Nope._ Still cuddled up and watching something. _More muggle things_ , he thought. _She was definitely raised by them_. 

"I still know that watching girls go on dates is creepy. By all means, though, keep watching. Your face, when you get caught, will be priceless."

Potter didn't respond, fixated on something else. He didn't look happy. Draco looked at what Potter was staring at, and his jaw dropped. She was _kissing_ him. In the tower! Of _all_ places. And he was on her lap and-

Draco stopped that train of thought and looked away before it went any further.

"I think I'll be at breakfast tomorrow," he heard her say quietly. 

"Okay," the mystery guy responded. "You should sit with us, meet some of my friends."

She hesitated for a second. "I don't think the Gryffindors will like me. The Ravenclaws certainly don't. The only house that wants anything to do with me is Slytherin. Maybe I should've been put there instead," she retorted glumly. Mystery guy frowned. "Really? Someone ran into the dorm yesterday with that redhead I was telling you about just _gushing_ to him about how someone performed _wandless magic_. Unless that was some random kid who I've never heard of, I'd say she wants to talk to you."

He smiled at her, and she smiled back, resting her head on his shoulder for a second before lifting it back up to talk to him.

"I don't know... I don't want to deal with more stares. How are things in Gryfindor, by the way? You never talk to me about them. Are they being nice? Does their common room look cool? What's it like living with 'The Boy Who Lived'?" She asked, giggling slightly at the nickname Potter had been dubbed. Potter frowned, and Draco hid the smile that was forming on his face.

"It's... weird. Everyone drops everything when he walks into the room like they're in awe. Do you know anything about him that I don't? I heard that the Ravenclaw girls _love_ to talk."

She scoffed and replied "We don't talk. Or at least, no one talks to me. Anyways, I don't think I know anything that you don't. I know that he had an opportunity to be in Slytherin when he got sorted, which he doesn't seem to advertise. He got the scar when he was a baby and someone tried to kill him and his parents, he's an orphan now with a horrid family, he spends Christmasses here because he doesn't want to go home, the usual. Oh, and he has a strange obsession with both Draco Malfoy and Nico Di Angelo," she said, smirking. "Nothing you don't know, right? I didn't want to look farther without consent, doing so makes me feel bad."

Draco glanced at Potter. His mouth was hanging open. "How does she know that? Malfoy, did you tell her??? How dare you! I don't think very highly of you but to tell her lies is-" Draco cut him off. "We've never spoken about you, Potter. Calm your ego down. I think she can read minds or something."

Turning his attention back to her, he almost missed what the boy asked her next.

"What about the kid that's been friendly with you? Anything special?" his words sounded more tense, kind of angry.

She looked at him, laughing softly in disbelief. "Are you... jealous? Aw. That's cute. No, nothing special. Draco's been nice to me, and I'm glad. From what everyone's said, it's that he's nothing but bad. They're wrong. Kinda wanna meet the family, see where he gets the cold exterior from, or something. Maybe I could take a page out of his book: if you're super scary, no one messes with you."

Mystery guy laughed, and she smiled, then checked the watch she wore. "Shit!" she exclaimed. "Curfew's soon, and I'm not willing to fuck things up on the first day, are you?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, and she looked apologetic. "Sorry... rough day. They assign so many essays, it's crazy."

Getting up, she offered a hand to MG, which he accepted. Walking back, Draco and Potter followed them carefully. When they reached the door, she said goodbye and answered the riddle that the eagle gave her, walking inside cautiously. Draco turned to Potter and stared at each other. "Malfoy, with all due respect, what in bloody hell _was_ that?" Draco opened his mouth to reply, then shut it, and then opened it again. "I... I don't know, Potter. Care to walk back with me?" Potter laughed, making Draco shrink a small bit before he responded with "Sure, Malfoy. Sure."

They walked away, mostly arguing. When they reached the Gryffindor dorm, Potter went inside without saying goodbye. Not that Draco cared, of course. Why would he care? He wasn't friends with Potter. Reaching the Slytherin dorms, he said the password and headed to his room, which he shared with Blaise. Thankfully, Blaise was already asleep so he didn't have to explain where he'd been. Not wanting to think too much about what he had seen, Draco slipped into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so on top of uploading it's almost unreal! Hope you liked this chapter, let me know if there are any errors, and as always, happy reading! :)


	5. The Dark Arts Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella's Dark Arts class is studying Legilimency and Occlumency, which is fine until it all goes wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Panic attacks and some depressive thoughts.

Ella walked into the cafeteria the next day and looked around. Every seat seemed full, and she wasn't going to sit next to a total stranger. Starting to leave, she was almost out the door when she heard someone say "Ella, wait!"

Turning, she saw Draco. "Hey, where're you going? I told you that you could sit with me if you came by during meals." He laughed, then motioned for her to follow. Ella hesitated, then went with him. He gestured to the seat next to her, and she sat.

"So I saw you and a mystery kid in the Astronomy tower last night," he said casually. Ella froze. _Does he care? Is he going to hurt me because of it? No, don't be silly. Why would he care? No one cares. No one ever cares._

"Yeah, what about it?" she responded, choosing her words carefully.

"I heard some of the things you said. Ella, you've never once spoken to Potter. Ever. You don't know who he is, either. I don't know how you found that out because _I_ certainly didn't tell you and your friends probably don't know about him, but-"

"Draco," Ella cut him off. He looked at her, seeming stunned that she would interrupt him. She guessed no one interrupted him much.

"Yes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I can explain that. Meet me at the Ravenclaw dorms at 7:00 tonight. I'll let you in. Don't be late."

She got up and left, taking an extra pastry with her. Checking her schedule, she saw that her first class of the day was Dark Arts. _Great._ **(A/N: I completely forgot who the DA teacher is during this period, so for the plot, it'll be Snape)** _Another class with Snape._ She knew that he favored most Slytherins, and he didn't seem to have a problem with her, but she didn't want to risk it. According to the other students, they were studying Occlumency. _Yay._ While she couldn't perform spells (or so she thought, she'd never picked up a wand), she could still practice Legilimency. Most kids didn't know that, and she _really_ didn't want her Dark Arts class to ask questions. Stopping outside the door, she looked around. _Can I get away with skipping? Snape's not here... no one would see me leave-_

Her thoughts were interrupted by one of her friends.

"Hey, El! Feels like we haven't seen each other in years even though it's only been a day," he said, laughing. _Lucas._

"Yeah, funny isn't it? Are you excited about today?"

Lucas frowned. Ella knew he was worried. She wasn't sure how he was going to fake this. She wasn't sure how _any_ of them were going to fake being wizards and witches. They didn't even have wands, for Merlin's sake. _God, I just thought Merlin instead of fuck. Better not come out of here acting like a British witch._

"To be honest, no. How am I gonna pull this off?"

"I'm not sure, but maybe you could-"

"Miss Smith. Mister Williams. Please stop loitering and _enter_ the classroom, or I'll take 50 points from Ravenclaw _and_ Hufflepuff."

Begrudgingly, the two entered the class. Ella sat next to Draco, Lucas sat next to one of his Hufflepuff friends. 

"Good morning class. As some of you may have heard, we are discussing and working on Occlumency and Ligilimency today."

Across the room, Ella heard Hermione quietly whisper-arguing with Harry. "Something we need to hear, Miss Granger?"

Hermione's face turned four different shades of red, then responded with a meek "No," before looking down. **(A/N: I'm sorry if I get some of this next part wrong, it was hard for me to find information on this subject.)**

"Ten points from Gryffindor for talking out of turn. Now, Occlumency is a way to block out others from reading your thoughts. It is the only way to repel Ligimens, who are people that can access your thoughts using spells. In the scenario we will be using, one student will be using the spell 'Ligilimens', and the other will attempting to clear their mind and suppress the emotions the caster will be looking for. If the suppressor does this correctly, they will have a chance to force the caster out of their mind and a chance to cast the Ligilimens spell on the caster and try to get into their mind. _Everyone_ will be a caster and _everyone_ will be a suppressor. Take turns. You're paired with the person next to you and you have until Thursday to perfect the charm and practice suppressing your emotions. Good luck."

Snape demonstrated how to pronounce and cast the charm before returning to his desk to grade papers. Draco turned to Ella and opened his mouth to say something before she beat him to it. 

"If you'd like, you can cast the spell first and I can try suppressing my emotions," she offered.

"Sure," Draco replied. Reaching for his wand, he said "Ligilimens!" while pointing his wand at her. The light flashed, and she knew he was inside her mind. A split second later, Ella was throwing him out of her mind and was inside his. Draco seemed stunned, and then Ella realized she hadn't even cast the goddamn spell. _Well, shit. Might as well look around while I'm here._

Quietly, she moved through his mind, looking for anything that might stick out. This went on for about a minute before she was finally thrown out of Draco's mind.

"What the hell? Where did you learn to do that? You didn't even say the spell! No one here can throw someone out of their mind that quickly. Who the fuck _are_ you?"

Ella flinched. Draco seemed stunned, not mad, but emotions could change in a second and things could get violent. The class had gone quiet.

"I... I, um..."

She was stunned. What was she supposed to say? _"Oh yeah, don't worry about that. I just do this on the regular and, oh, also, I'm not a real witch"_? Yeah, right.

"That is enough. Do not make me deduct points from your houses. Students, what you've just seen is someone who is a very advanced Ligilimen and Occulmen. Miss Smith, care to demonstrate?"

She didn't move. The world was closing in- were the edges of her vision always this dark? Was that her breathing? Why was she breathing so fast? Was someone saying something? What was-

"Elizabelle! Can you hear me? Breathe for me, okay? Slow, deep, breaths. Let's go to Madam Pomfrey, come on."

Ella vaguely felt her legs moving, and all she could think was _I don't want to go to her, hospitals suck_ , but the darkness didn't go away and her voice wasn't working. It closed in further, and her breathing got faster. That voice- who's was it? Where was she going? Why did they sound like they're underwater?

"...breathe, there you go, come on. You got it, just breathe. Can I touch you?"

She shook her head no so fast she heard something crack. _Wince, breathe, wince, panic._ The darkness didn't let up. She felt herself being sat down, but it didn't feel like a hospital bed or a cafeteria seat. 

"Okay, okay. Just keep breathing. In for five, hold for four, out for seven."

Slowly, after what seemed like hours (But was probably maybe 30 minutes), the darkness started to clear. She blinked and looked around. Draco was looking at her, concerned.

"Where- what- how...?"

"They ended the class early. Everyone's in their second class. Snape thinks I took you to Madam Pomfrey, but you didn't seem like you wanted to go there."

Looking around, Ella realized this was the Slytherin room. "I'm sorry about that," she replied meekly. "Don't know what happened."

That was a lie. She knew exactly what happened, and she couldn't let it happen again. One more slip-up and her cover would be blown and they'd have to find another safe place. It'd be different if it was just those three Gryffindors and Draco, but the _whole class_ saw her freak out. They probably even saw the wandless magic thing, based on how Snape addressed her and the class afterward.

"Sorry I hurt you," she said, apologizing again. 

"You didn't hurt me, but you want to tell me what in bloody hell that was?"

Draco was looking at her with nothing but concern, and Ella felt bad.

"Bring your Gryffindor friends to Ravenclaw tonight, as we discussed. I'll explain the date, the wandless healing, and what happened in class. You _cannot_ tell anyone about this. Promise me. If this gets out, I'm screwed."

Draco nodded solemnly. "I'll bring Potter and the other two. They aren't my friends, though."

She laughed lightly, which made Draco smile. "Sure they aren't. We should get to class, you can drop me off at mine along the way."

Draco shook his head. "No, we don't have a hospital pass. Just wait until lunch."

She shrugged, looking around the common room again. "It's very... green."

Draco laughed at that, looking surprised. "It's Slytherin, what'd you expect?"

They stayed there, talking until lunch arrived. _Just two more classes_ , she thought. _Two more and then I explain everything_. _Come to think of it, I should talk to Neeks as well, haven't seen him around lately._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! I'm loving this story :) Happy reading!


	6. The Confession.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella explains everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of torture and violence.

7:00 came much faster than Draco anticipated. He rounded up Potter, Weasley, and Granger, then brought them to Ravenclaw. Ella was waiting, as promised, and answered the riddle to let them in. She led them up the boys' side of the dorms, which Granger questioned. 

"Why is your dorm over here? Shouldn't it be with the other girls?"

"It was the only one left. There's a spell on it that lets girls from Ravenclaw enter and kids from other houses in _only_ , and it locks manually as well. Completely safe, and besides, no one wants anything to do with me anyways."

Draco didn't miss the hint of sadness that touched her tone when she said that last part. Opening the door, she let them enter before closing it behind them and locking it.

"The girl looks like she has something to say," Ella said, nodding at Granger.

"Oh! I'm Hermione, that's Ron, and that's Harry. You're Elizabelle, right?"

Ella nodded. "Everyone calls me Ella or El though. Did you have a question?"

Hermione nodded so fast it looked like it hurt. "Yes! Can you explain to me how you did the wandles-"

Ella held up a hand, stopping her. Granger huffed, annoyed.

"All in due time. So, Harry, Draco, I heard you spied on my date yesterday?"

Draco looked down. "Potter started it..."

"I did not!"

"Did so!"

"Did not!"

"Did so!"

"Boys!" Granger shouted, then winced. Ella waved a reassuring hand. "There's a silencing spell or something too. I don't remember exactly what Professor McGonagall cast."

Hermione looked at her, confused. Draco knew what they were thinking: How _did she not know what was cast on her own dorm? And why didn't she cast it?_ Ron did the same.

"So. What you overheard yesterday was probably... confusing. I should start it off with something that's not that shocking, I guess." She paused for a moment looking around. "Not a _word_ of this leaves this room, do you hear me?"

Everyone nodded.

"I'm not a witch-" Hermione gasped, earning her a glare. "Sorry, she mumbled.

"I'm not a witch. Or at least, I don't think so. I've never touched a wand, haven't had a chance. When I was two, I was taken from my parents to an... organization. They specialize in turning humans into monsters, which meant they mutilated you with different genes and experiments until they got the results they wanted. Lotta needles, I should say. I don't remember what they spliced me with, it was a long time ago. Once they got the results they wanted, they began the training. It was hard training, especially since I was only around seven years old at the time. Control got easier, and then I escaped. I think I was 12? I didn't make it far. They brought me back and made it worse. Shot me, burned me, froze me, stabbed me, whipped me, you name it, they probably tried it. I escaped again a year later and made my way to Camp Half-Blood, a place for greek demigods. Got claimed there as a daughter of Posiden, and stayed there for a year. I went to school, made friends, moved to California to perform with a band that I made, and then the Demigod war started. The camp directors moved us around, sent me and some of my friends here, sent my friends to other places. I haven't heard from them in weeks, we've heard nothing from our godly parents, and I'm here trying to stop Nico from getting himself killed while he looks for someone that is most certainly deadly. There's more, but I'll break for questions. Anyone hungry?"

She looked around, no doubt taking in the shocked faces she saw. Granger spoke up first. "So- so you're not a witch? You're a halfling? And Nico is too? What did they splice you with? How? Do you remember what training they went through? Do you have powers? Do you-"

Weasley clamped a hand over her mouth, giving Ella an apologetic look. "So..." Potter started, not sure where to go. "You don't _know_ if you're a witch? Do you want to try one of our wands? I know you don't have your own but you might be able to do magic, even if the chances are slim."

Ella looked at Potter, head tilted again. _The puppy-dog look_ , Draco thought. His favorite out of the many emotions she had. She blinked, turning to Draco.

"No offense, but you think, like, _really_ loudly," she giggled. "And yes, Harry, you could show me how to cast a basic spell sometime this weekend to see if I'm a witch."

Draco didn't move. "I _what_?"

She didn't answer.

"Break time's over. Next portion!"

She sounded cheerful. Draco wasn't sure he liked that.

"Alright! So! I can control water, because _duh_ , Posiden's kid. I can also read minds, fly, and move things with my mind. Oh, and the healing thing. Problem is, I can only heal others. My general healing is more sped up though, so broken bones are normally healed in a day or so. Any questions?"

Draco stared at her. "Have you... read our minds?" 

She looked down for a second, and then back up. "Yeah. I don't normally look further than someone's surface mind, because mentally prying can hurt people. People normally don't know I'm in their minds unless they're looking for me like you did earlier today, Draco. I know the basics about you guys: where you're from, how you were raised, how many siblings you have, how _you_ -" she nodded at Potter, "got that scar, how you lost your parents, how Draco grew up, how many siblings Ron has, how Hermione has muggle parents, the basics." She looked around again. Everyone was still shocked. "I can pull memories out of minds as well, so if you were thinking of something when I arrive and all of a sudden you thought of something nostalgic, that was probably me pulling back old childhood memories. I didn't mean to, but sometimes I get lost in other people's thoughts and I go further than I mean to."

She looked apologetic. "So... yeah. There's my story."

Draco opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it. "I feel like I should be angry right now, but I think I'm in shock."

She nodded, looking sad. "You guys have every right to be angry. I read most people's surface minds at first so I know what they're like. I know I shouldn't have done it, but I've been in some bad scenarios before, and that can mean the difference between life or death for me."

Potter nodded, not looking too mad. "Most people know that stuff about me anyway, I don't know about you guys though."

Draco nodded, slowly. "Can you speak to people using your mind?"

She nodded, before looking at Draco. Suddenly, another voice filled the one in his head. _Hi, Draco. This is shocking, I know, but it'll be okay._

He stared, dumbfounded ( _again_ ). "Hi," he said, out loud, very shakily. He decided that voice was a nice one, even if what Ella can do is a little freaky.

"I can also talk to everyone at once using my thoughts, so it's just like normal talking, just in people's minds. Kinda weird, if you ask me."

The smile came back, and Granger raised her hand before remembering she wasn't in class and lowering it, embarrassed. Ella smiled again and nodded at her. "Yes, Hermione?"

"Two things," she said slowly. "One: can you help us practice for Snape's class? We won't be _better_ than you, _duh_ , but you can help us be better. Two: are you always reading thoughts? Like, do we have to avoid thinking about things? Is your mind always listening?" Granger looked worried, and Draco didn't blame her. He didn't want Ella always listening, either.

She shook her head. "No, I'm not always listening. The thoughts feel almost like rain sometimes- I keep each one in a raindrop, and when I want to listen, I focus on that specific raindrop. When I'm not listening, it's just background noise, like in the cafeteria. And yes, I'll help you practice. I'm one of the best there is and I've been doing this since I was five. You won't find anyone here who's had more training unless they're Snape. Even so, I can slip into his mind fairly easily so maybe I'm wrong. You're welcome to stay if you'd like. I don't sleep much at night."

She relaxed more onto the bed, pulling a textbook over to her from the bag hung on her chair and reading it. Weasley shuddered. He hadn't said much, Draco realized. "So we're safe? Good?" He asked, seemingly out of the blue.

She looked up and nodded. "Yes, so long as you don't speak a word of this to anyone. If I find out you have, you won't be speaking for a long, l _ong_ , time."

Smiling innocently, she went back to reading.

And if Draco and the others stayed there and _accidentally_ fell asleep in her dorm room, that was nobody's business but theirs. And if now Draco thought of Potter as a friend, that was nobody's business but his. And if everyone saw them all walk into breakfast together, talking like friends that had known each other for years, well, that's another story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, this isn't the end of the book. It's a nice stopping point, but I have a few other things planned. Sorry, this moved so fast, I get carried away haha. Happy reading! :)


	7. The Qudditch Match.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a quidditch match. Oh, and some depressing thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Depressive thoughts

The rest of the week flew by. Ella helped the others with suppressing their thoughts and emotions, and she also taught them how to get into someone's mind. Before they knew it, Friday had rolled around (Thursday had gone without a hitch, and Snape was _very_ impressed). Before she knew it, it was lunchtime. Now, they all sat together most of the time (Draco and Harry still fought _a lot_ , so they had to separate the two sometimes.) at meals, or at least they did when Ella showed up. After lunch, there were two more classes, and then her first week was done. She survived. Tomorrow was Saturday, and after the quidditch match, Harry was going to show her how a wand worked. If she could _do_ (Make? Do? What's the correct verb here?) magic, they'd take her to Oliver's to buy her a wand, and then she'd be heading to Hogsmead with Draco and some of his friends that night. Sunday was another date night, but before that, there would be more work on the mind-reading thing (Who cared if it was called something else? The real name for it was a mouthful, in Ella's opinion.) and some homework. A fun weekend, sure. Following that, they were going to focus on finding Nico and convincing him to spend the holidays with them, since Christmas break was right around the corner and all of them had decided to spend it at Hogwarts this year. When they got back from break, Hermione said they should start looking for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and more of his Portkeys (Whatever those are), even though Ella reminded her that there _was_ a war going on that she and Nico needed to stay up-to-date with. Hermione promised she'd let them check up on the real world every once in a while, but she needed their help. The rest of the day flew by, night came (Ella didn't sleep, but no one needed to know that), and then it was Saturday. _I'm so tired... Maybe I can just sleep in a little bit. No one will notice, right? They normally don't._

It was true. Most of the time, people didn't seem to care when she showed up late or skipped breakfast. They didn't seem to notice when she slept in when her mind was rambling and she couldn't shut it off. She didn't blame them. She never told them. Sure, she woke up multiple times a night with the nightmares she had, but she didn't need to bother anyone with them. Others had it worse, so she shouldn't bother them with her problems. Besides, eventually, when she says too much, they'll push her away and use it against her. Obviously. _Missing the Quidditch game would be too much. You_ have _to go._

Sighing, she rolled out of bed and got dressed, then got breakfast. "Hey, Ella! You slept in a little longer than normal, you feel okay?"

_Ryan. God, I love him._

"Yeah, don't worry too much about it babe," she responded, kissing him on the cheek and heading to the table where the others were. Ryan followed close behind. Hermione smiled at the two. "Ready for the game?" She asked. "Gryffindor is going to kick Ravenclaw's ar-"

She was cut off by Harry, who looked at her incredulously. " _T_ _he_ Hermione Granger? Swearing? Didn't think you had it in you."

Hermione scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Quiet, you. Focus on getting ready to destroy _her_ house," she said, pointing. Ella shrunk a tiny bit. She knew it was teasing, but her house? Ryan nudged her gently, and she smiled. "Get ready to eat Ravenclaw's dust, Potter." Harry raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Talking trash? Careful, Smith. I'm the best seeker Gryffindor has, as we all know." Everyone laughed, and breakfast continued.

**~Time skip to after the game because I know nothing about Ravenclaw's Quidditch team and POV change~**

Ella was dancing around the Great Hall, triumphant. "We won! Told ya so, Hermione!" 

Harry chuckled, a soft smile on his lips. He was pretty sure that almost everyone that knew Ella concluded that she was one of the most adorable human beings on the planet.

"Okay, let's meet back on the field around 12:30? I'll show you how spells work and we'll see if you can do _Lumos_."

Ella, cheerful as always, simply said "Okay!" and walked off to who knows where.

**~Whattup time skip again to 11:45 and another POV change, I'm really shaking things up~**

Ella was walking to the fields when she heard a voice. "Hey, doll. Did you miss me?"

Elizabelle froze. Every painful moment of her middle school life flashed through her mind. That voice brought back nothing but bad memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may/may not be a filler chapter... but you'll never know ;) Happy reading! :)


	8. The Bully.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella's old bully finds her and threatens her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Sexual assault, verbal threats, blood.

She didn't move. Her legs wouldn't let her. Every muscle seized up. _Call... someone. Get anyone. Draco. Draco? Can I get to Draco? Is he too far away? Where is he where is he where is he where is he-_

Desperate, Ella reached out. Pushed all mental limits. _How far away is he?_ The further she pushed, the more it hurt. 

"Now, now, doll. Don't play dumb. I know you remember me. Turn around, love. I want to see if you've changed."

_Push further, push further, is he further away??? Where where where where-_

There. He's right there. In the library. So far away. Just do the thing.

_Draco? Can you hear me? You're so far away..._

She waited for a second, then heard the response.

**_Ella? What? Yeah, I can hear you, is something wrong?_ **

_Trapped. Right before I get out to the fields. Get Potter. Hurry. Not much time she's going to hurt me she's going to hurt me she's going to hurt me HELP._

**_Okay, okay. I'll get Potter. Get to the fields if you can._ **

_Okay okay okay okay okay no no no no no stay away stay away stoP!_

The connection dropped. Draco must've gone further away. 

"I'm not going to wait any longer. Turn. Around."

Feeling for the coin in her pocket, the one she kept there, the one she always kept on her just in case, she turned around. Shakily.

"What do you want?"

The question wasn't a question, it was more of a phrase. Elizabelle knew why _she_ was here. Isabella. Middle school bully. Just couldn't leave her alone, could she?

"Look at me, darling."

The name made her flinch. She didn't lookup.

"How did you get here?"

No answer. She bet that Isabella was smiling, that sick fuck. She hated her. Hated every part of her. Wanted to get revenge. This girl turned all her friends against her, tormented her. Made her feel disgusted with herself when she didn't know how to say _"_ _No, Isa. I don't want to cuddle with you. I don't want to hold your hand,"_ because she thought saying no would make her mad, and she didn't want to anger Isa. All of it happened because she couldn't say no. It was her fault. All of it.

"Look at me or I'll make you look at me."

Finally, Ella looked up. The eyes that she knew so well- so, so well were staring back at her. She looked the same.

"You look... different. Happy. We can't have that, now can we?"

Grimacing, Ella looked down. She didn't move. 

"Shall we take this outside?"

Ella forced her legs to move. 

_Please don't hurt me please don't hurt me please don't hurt me._

They walked onto the field. Ella didn't move. She felt devoid of emotion, empty. A feeling she knew _all_ too well.

"Good to see you're still so scared of me, doll. Considering you escaped again, I thought maybe you gathered courage. Glad to see nothing's changed. Are you going to run away again? Cry for Mommy? Oh, that's right, _you don't have one_. When I'm through with you, you'll be sorry that you ever tried to run in the first place."

Isabella started to come closer. The closer she got, the more freaked out Ella was.

_Don't touch me don't touch me don't touch me_

_Stay away stay away stay away_

_I hate you I hate you I hate you_

_STAY AWAY_

_FROM_

_ME_

Ella reached into her pocket, pulling the coin out. Flipping it, she grabbed the sword handle it turned into. Isabella stopped, dead in her tracks. "What's that?" She asked voice wavering.

Ella felt a smile grow on her face.

"It's my sword. I never leave home without one. Demigod and all that."

She checked Isabella's expression before continuing.

"In case you haven't heard, I don't like running. It's awful, and it makes me look bad. I _never_ look bad."

Smirking, she pointed the sword at Isabella, who stepped back. Celestial bronze was a wonderful thing.

"It'll hurt, but you know that. I want revenge, Isa. I want you to feel what I felt. You _terrorized_ me. I hate you."

The words kept going and didn't stop. Isabella looked more scared at every second.

Ella ran the point of the sword down Isa's arm. It was a light cut and wasn't over any major arteries. The blood trickled down her arm slowly. Isabella didn't move. Ella ran the point down her other arm.

"You have to _match_ , don't you?"

Isabella glared. Ella smiled. She used to insist they wore the same clothes. Isabella also used to take her phone, stop her from texting people. She cut her off from the people she loved.

Ella ran the sword across her face, carefully. Just light cuts. Nothing permanent. Scarring isn't good for getting dates, and she didn't want Isa to be loveless.

"Does that hurt? Hm? Now imagine that pain, but ten _thousand_ times worse. Now imagine that pain, but with no doctor to help you through it. Imagine going through that intense pain alone. Imagine it. No friends. No one to turn to. That's what you did to me."

Ella looked for a non-lethal point to stab. She wanted her to hurt, to feel pain. The blood was running down still, mixing with the sweat on her face. Ella didn't want to kill her. She wasn't that kind of person. Realizing that anywhere she stabbed her would probably be lethal, she dropped the sword. Isabella looked up.

"Move and I will pick that up and stab you faster than you would be able to apologize," she threatened. "You're going to leave here. Don't ever come back. Don't come looking for me again. If you do, you'll regret it. Do you understand?" She asked, picking the sword up again. 

No answer.

Poking her with the sword gently, she repeated the question. "Do. You. Under. Stand?" She asked, sounding harsher. Isabella nodded furiously. "Good. Get the fuck out of my sight, you sorry piece of shit."

Isabella left so fast it was like she teleported.

Ella stared after her, waiting for her to come back and destroy her.

She didn't.

Ella didn't move at first.

She flipped the sword back and put it in her pocket.

She stood there for a long time.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there.

Finally, she walked over to the Quidditch bleachers, sat down, put her head in her hands, and sobbed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one got dark, sorry about that! I hope you still liked it :) Let me know if there are any errors because it's currently 4:00 am and I'm not thinking straight aha. Happy reading! :)


	9. The Explanation.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico explains who the girl that threatened Ella was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of verbal abuse, physical abuse, and sexual assault.

Harry and Draco stood at the edge of the Quidditch field (having watched the whole ordeal) staring at Ella.

"What do we... do?" Malfoy asked, staring at her.

"We get her boyfriend... I think. Do you know where he is?"

Malfoy shook his head. "I can stay here with her, to make sure she doesn't try anything irrational. You go look for him."

Harry nodded, then walked away, pulling out the Marauder's Map and softly chanting: "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Hogwarts appeared on the map, with some kids walking around. Most took weekends off and used them as a lazy day, or they went to Hogsmead for the weekend.

_What was his name? Ryan something?_

Glancing around the map, he found Ryan's footprints heading to the library.

"Mischief managed," he whispered, heading in the direction of the library.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry got to the library relatively quickly.

"Ryan?" he whispered, looking for the guy he'd seen with Ella that night.

_There he is._

"Ryan?" Harry asked, earning a glare from the librarian.

The boy looked up. 

"Yeah?" he questioned, looking confused.

"You're dating Ella, right?" he nodded. "Your girlfriend is currently having a breakdown on the Quidditch field, can you come with me?"

Ryan didn't question it, just nodded and followed Harry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Malfoy looked up when they got back. "You found him?"

"Yeah," Harry responded.

Ryan went over and sat by Ella, who was now rocking back and forth.

"Has she said anything since I left?" 

Malfoy shook his head. "Not a word, just crying and then the rocking. Not sure what that girl did to her, but it didn't seem good."

Ryan wasn't moving, just sitting by her. Neither were talking.

"Are they just gonna sit there?"

Harry nodded. "She doesn't seem to like talking."

**~POV change~**

Draco didn't end up going to Hogsmead that night. Instead, he went to dinner and sat with Granger and the others to discuss what the hell happened earlier. Ella was a no-show, and so were most of her other friends. Nico showed up, which was a pleasant surprise but wasn't talking.

"So let me get this straight. She pulled a coin from her pocket, flipped it, _turned it into a sword_ , and _threatened_ that girl with it? Elizabelle? The same Elizabelle that doesn't ever speak her mind, flinches when someone raises their voice and is afraid to answer questions?? _That_ Elizabelle?"

Draco nodded. "Yup. I don't know where that sword came from, or what that coin had to do with it."

Nico looked up and started speaking. Everyone at the table stopped talking and looked towards him.

"It's a magic item. We all have them. When you flip them, click them, or spin them, they change into something else. My cousin has a pen and a watch, she has a coin, and I have a ring."

Draco glanced at the ring on his finger. It was shaped like a skull. 

"Do they all transform into swords?" Potter asked, hesitantly.

"No. Percy's watch changes into a shield. Our blacksmiths make them back at camp, along with other weapons. I gave Ella the one she currently has, and we swap them a lot. You have to know how to use other's weapons in case something happens."

Weasley began to speak. "So, who _was_ the girl that tried to hurt her? From what we found, Celestial-bronze doesn't work on mortals."

Nico looked back up. "Oh. Her's is double-sided. One side is regular steel, the other is Celestial-bronze. Hitting someone with the tip of it, be it a mortal or a monster will hurt them. The girl that tried to harm my cousin is one of her middle-school bullies. She assaulted her physically and verbally. Super possessive and abusive. Also, pressured her into doing things she didn't want to do, like cuddle and hold hands. She's hesitant to touch people now, and won't trust anyone. Really messed her up."

Everyone went silent. Nico never talked.

"What?" he asked, looking around. "You wanted facts, there you go. You can talk to her more about it tomorrow when she isn't panicking."

Draco nodded slowly. "So where are all her friends then? And why aren't you with them?"

Nico didn't speak for a minute, and Draco worried he overstepped. 

"I'm not considered a friend of theirs. They don't know me, don't like me. They're probably in her dorm right now, trying to calm her down. That girl affected them all but did the most damage to Ella. She won't be right in the head for a while."

Nico got up and left, probably heading back to the dorms.

Potter blew out a breath. "So... she has a sword and might be a witch. And we've been horrible people because we've raised our voices around her and scared her."

Weasley banged his head on the table. "I. Hate. Everything."

Granger placed a soothing hand on his shoulder. "There, there. Stop acting like a child."

Weasley scoffed at her. "Not a child."

Everyone laughed at that.

"We really should go check on her, though," Granger said.

"Yeah, we'll see her tomorrow. I don't want to stress her out more than we have to," Potter replied.

"Tomorrow it is, then," Draco agreed.

With that, the dinner bell sounded, and the four returned to their dorms to think about the day's events and sleep for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Hope y'all like it :)


	10. Another Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella overhears Harry and Ron saying some stuff about her that upsets her and panics. Now she's in the woods with no escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Violence, anxiety attacks.

Hermione woke up the next morning first and was out of the dorm before her friends woke up. She went to the library immediately, not even stopping to grab breakfast. 

Muttering under her breath, she finally found the book she was looking for. 

_Yes! The Silver Diary. Just what I was looking for._

The book detailed the life of a person who lived through the First Wizarding War. Hermione was looking to learn what Voldemort had used as his tactics such as how he had employed the Death Eaters, how he had killed, what spells he used. If she could figure this out, she could help her friends prepare for the (inevitable) war. Even if they caught him, Voldemort wasn't going to go down without a fight. Harry could do that Patronus thing, Ron was good at getting his hands on things they shouldn't have, and that new girl would be helpful with moving objects that they couldn't reach. Hermione didn't trust Malfoy- never would. Sure, he could act friendly all he wanted, but there was something else there. Trying to _befriend_ the new girl? She'd never seen Malfoy act nice willingly, so what changed?

Hermione stayed at the library until lunch, when she finally realized that _oh, yeah, I_ do _need food_.

Tired from all the reading she'd done, Hermione simply wanted to eat and maybe take a nap. Heading into the Great Hall, she saw everyone sitting at their normal tables. They only sat together on certain days or when Harry needed to ask the new girl something.

_Why do I keep calling her_ 'The new girl' _? She has a name. Elizabelle._

Hermione didn't know why they didn't sit together all the time, but she assumed that Harry and Ron didn't trust Malfoy either. Heading to the usual table, she realized none of her friends were there.

_Probably last-minute homework_ , she thought. No matter how many times she nagged those two, they always procrastinated until the last minute. Eating quickly, Hermione headed back to the Gryffindor dorm to find the two boys and tell them what she'd found.

"Ron? Harry? Come here, you've _got_ to see what I've been looking at in the library!"

Bounding into the common room, Hermione looked around for them. They weren't there. 

_Where could they be?_

The portrait opened behind her and Hermione heard arguing.

_Harry and Ron._

"I _told_ you not to do that! You've fucked the whole thing up!"

"Oh, _I_ fucked it up? What about you? You're the one that-"

"Boys!" Hermione yelled. 

_Yikes, they're quite angry this time. Don't think they're going to be mates again anytime soon._

Ron and Harry looked at her.

" _Ron_ messed up my chances with that new girl!"

"The _new girl_ has a _boyfriend_ who she's _v_ _ery happy_ with! You _cannot_ harass her!"

"Oh, what do you know? You don't even _l_ _ike_ her!"

"Guys-" Hermione tried.

"Maybe I don't but you _cannot_ try to go after someone who _has a boyfriend_!"

"That's not what I was trying to do! You just don't _get it_ , Ron. I'm sick of having to always listen to you all the time!"

"Guys-" Hermione tried again.

" _You_ didn't even like her in the first place, Harry. The only reason you want anything to do with her now is that she's talking to Malfoy!"

"That is not true, I can't even _believe_ you would-"

" _GUYS!_ " Hermione screamed.

They turned towards her, and she motioned to the girl standing in the common room with her boyfriend, tears in her eyes.

"Look at what you did, Ron!"

"Oh, _I_ did this? You started it!"

"Shut! Up!" Hermione yelled at them. "I _will_ hex you!"

That got them to stop. Hermione was a master at most spells and her hexes almost _always_ came out perfectly.

"When will you _apologize_?"

They looked at her, confused.

"Why would we apologize?" Harry asked. 

"She overheard everything you said! She left here in tears! _Tears_ , Harry! You and Ron need to make up and apologize!"

Hermione was outraged

"I'm not apologizing. Besides, Ron started it. If you need me, I'm in my dorm doing homework."

Harry walked off, slamming his dorm door.

"Not apologizing either. And I _didn't_ start it, you lying prick!"

Ron raised his voice so Harry could hear him, then stormed off to his dorm. The door didn't slam, but Hermione knew she was angry.

Sighing, she went to the library to do more research. At least books couldn't fight or hurt each other's feelings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella had left as soon as they stopped yelling. The tears threatened to fall as she ran. She didn't know where she was going, but she wanted nothing to do with anyone right about now. Running faster, the tears blurred her vision, and she ran into someone. 

"Ow! What the hell?"

_Shit! Draco!_

Pushing backward, she tried to get away before he could see her like this.

_Never let them see you cry. Crying shows weakness. Get out of there!_

Her mind kept telling her to run, but she couldn't see and she didn't know where she was going and-

"Ella? Are you okay?"

Hugging her knees to her chest, she didn't move. Hearing movement, she resisted the urge to flinch.

_He won't hurt you. He hasn't. Yet._

The flashbacks from middle school hit _hard_. Being tripped in the hallways, pushed 'on accident'. Not knowing how to say "No," or "Stop,". Not knowing how to reach out and get help. Waiting until it was too late, dealing with the verbal and physical abuse for months.

_Get out of there!_

_He's going to hurt you! That's why he's not talking!_ **_Get out of there!_ **

Losing control again, she was up and running before she could stop herself.

_Oops._

Eventually, the world cleared and she could see. There were trees everywhere, and she couldn't see a path- or the school.

"Hello?"

No response. Was this that forest that students weren't allowed to enter? What was it called again? 'The Forbidden Forest'? Something like that.

A noise sounded behind her. She jumped.

"Hello..?"

Still nothing. Something snapped a twig.

"Please come out!"

_You sound pitful. Can't even stay still when a twig snaps. Pathetic._

There was something behind her now. She didn't have to turn around to know it. 

_Don't move. They're behind you. Don't. Move._

And then it struck.

Her scream was muffled by something as she fell towards the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter! This is the start of what I hope will be the best part of this book! Happy reading! :)


	11. Her Disappearance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella wakes up after being kidnapped. She doesn't know where she is or how long she was out. Can she escape before it's too late?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Bindings, mentions of death  
> GREY'S ANATOMY SPOILERS LMFAO  
> **Also: any regular, non-bolded italics are the characters speaking in their minds. (If it's an author's note it'll say A/N before and be just plain, bolded words, if they're bolded italics, that's a person that Ella is talking to mentally.) There was some confusion about this, and I wanted to clear things up!

She awoke in a room. It looked like a library. Surrounded by bookshelves, a fireplace on her left, sitting in a chair. She couldn't move, and when she looked to her arms and legs... they were bound by something smoky. 

_It's smoke, right?_

**(A/N: I know there is only technically one binding spell, but for plot, there will be more than one and multiple types of bindings)**

The door opened, and something walked in. Normally, Ella would be able to say for sure that it was a person, but it looked _horrifying_. Pale, white skin, and no nose. It wasn't human.

 _That's the thing Nico's looking for. Dear Lord, what_ is _that?_

She felt it trying to get into her head, to see the connections she had with the students at Hogwarts.

_Suppress. Think nonsense. Gibberish. Complaints. Act like a normal 14-year-old._

_Boys are_ so _weird, amirite? Like, I just don't get them. And oh my God, can you_ believe _what happened on Grey's Anatomy last night? They shouldn't have done Meredith dirty like that. I mean, killing her husband?_

Slowly, it retreated from her brain.

_Thank God. Now, how do I get out of these? They're holding me in place. Are these those smoky chains Hermione was telling me about? I wish I'd paid attention. I bet there's a counterspell or something and OH MY GOD THAT'S A GIANT SNAKE-_

It talked to the snake in hisses she couldn't understand. The snake was huge, probably bigger than her.

_There's a name for that. Parseltongue, right? How long was I out? I don't know. I bet there's a book with a counterspell in it somewhere in here. Dammit, I wish we could've found out if I was a witch before I got kidnapped. This sucks._

Although she'd been in situations like this before, there had never been a _thing_ doing the kidnapping.

_It has a wand, right? If I'm correct, I got kidnapped by Voldemort, which is bad. On the good side, he's one of the best wizards in the world, just evil. It has a wand, right? He has to have a wand. Is he an 'it' or a 'he'? I'm so confused. Why doesn't he have a nose? Why doesn't he talk? What in the fuck is that snake? Why does he hiss at it? Wait, can't Harry talk to snakes? Fucking weird my dude. Why did they tell me so many things about their lives? Now I have to keep everything suppressed. God damn you, Granger. People oversharing all the time I MEAN My Little Ponies is an amazing show. There's like, 22 seasons and they're epic. My favorite pony is Twilight as an alicorn because she has wings and a horn and I have wings or at least I wish I did but I also like Apple Jack too because she's named after an apple and she's super hardworking and she has a country accent like me oh thank God._

How many more times was he going to try this? Was he going to talk? Starve her? Kill her?

_I need to get in his mind._

New plan: Wait until he's asleep, then pry past the mental shields.

_Hopefully, he won't notice me. He should have the counterspell in there too, and once I figure that out I can grab his wand, free myself and get the hell out of here. Maybe he has one of those special fireplaces or that dust stuff- floos? Floo powder? I should've listened to Hermione, dammit. When does he sleep?_

She was sick of being tied to the chair, although it was comfy.

 _What if he casts a sleeping spell? Do sleeping spells exist? Can he change shape? Does he leave the house? Where_ am _I?_

She waited there for hours, hungry and tired but refusing to sleep. Finally, the thing (Or is it a he? Honestly, she didn't know) left the room and (presumably) went to sleep. She waited until he started to dream before she attempted to get past the shields.

_Careful, don't hurt him. If you cause him pain, he'll wake up. Memories of him killing people, more people, wait- are those Harry's parents?_

Pausing to watch the memory, she saw him cast the killing curse at his parents, then at Harry. It failed when he tried it on Harry and the pain that he felt when the spell was flipped and sent back at him almost made her lose her focus.

_Shit! Focus, Elizabelle, come on. You've been in worse situations. Keep looking. What else is in here?_

She kept looking, not finding what she was searching for.

 _Spells, spells, the killing curse, the crucio curse, hexes, potions, binding spells, normal bindings, rope bindings,_ **** _there! The counterspell to these stupid bindings._

Watching him perform the counterspell in one of his memories, Ella felt kind of overwhelmed. It was a complicated spell.

_If I can do magic and I do this wrong, will it hurt me? Will he hear me? God, I'm panicking. Do not spiral, Elizabelle. Not now._

Slowly, she pushed her mind further until she located the wand. He kept it close, so this would be tricky.

_Focus. Imagine pulling it towards you, slowly. Good, it's off the table. Now, get it past the snake... good. Wow, this looks fancy. I hope I can use someone else's wand. Please work._

The wand drifted to her, landing in her outstretched palm.

 _Dammit. My arms are bound_.

New-new plan: Try this and hope you don't fuck it up.

Moving as best she could, she attempted to cast the counterspell.

_Please, for the love of everything holy, work._

It did.

It fucking worked.

But apparently, the counterspell is super bright and loud.

Oh well.

She was a witch. Literally.

_Get out of there._

She heard movement from another room- yay, semi-advanced hearing.

_Shit shit shit, please don't be up._

Trying to remember how that floo powder stuff worked, she stood in front of the fireplace.

The hissing of the snake was right behind her.

_Come on, come on, you can't fail now._

Throw the powder in... and do what? Does she say something?

The snake was too close now. If she messed this up, it would kill her without hesitation. It was probably preparing to strike.

_I wish I could tell that snake to fuck off._

"Hog- Hogwarts."

Her voice was shaky.

 _Please work_.

An office appeared. 

_Please be Headmaster Dumbledore's or Professor McGonagall's._

The fire turned green.

 _Don't kill me_.

Stepping into the fire, she prayed this worked.

_Good luck, me._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Have you seen her?" Hermione was asking around. No one had seen Ella. Malfoy had tried to keep her in the hallway, but she freaked out and made a break for the Forbidden Forest. If Ella went into the forbidden forest, she might not make it out.

Harry shook his head. "No. I've looked everywhere, on all of the grounds. Malfoy said the lake dwellers hadn't seen her either. Ron checked the upper floors, and you checked the lower ones. The only other place she could be is in the Forest, and we can't go in there."

Right on cue, Ron and Malfoy ran up to them, along with her friends.

"What if she was kidnapped?" One of them asked.

"This has happened before, she's never going to forgive us," another said, seemingly on the verge of tears.

Her boyfriend didn't say anything, just looked worried.

Professor McGonagall rounded the corner, beelining straight for the kids.

"Harry, what'd you do now?" Ron asked, glaring.

"Me? I didn't do anything, classes went smoothly today. What did _you_ do??"

"Nothing!"

The Professor walked over, looking displeased.

"Hello, Professor!" Hermione tried, hoping they hadn't accidentally done something. "To what do we owe the pleasure?" Internally, she cringed. Ron visibly cringed, and she sent him a glare. 

"Care to tell me _why_ our newest student was found in my fireplace, shivering, crying, and whispering about a snake?"

She did not look happy.

"My office. All of you. Now."

They followed slowly, exchanging scared glances. 

Sitting in her office, Professor walked over to her desk and sat down.

"Explain yourselves. Now."

And explain they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my favorite chapter so far! Let me know what you guys think and hit that kudos button if you enjoyed it! Happy reading! :)


	12. The Punishment.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Professor McGonagall found out about the students who tried to cover up Elizabelle's disappearance. All seven will have to pay the price, and Hogwarts might have a child who's suffering from permanent mental damage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of cuts

Minerva had found her a couple of hours ago, sitting by the fire. She was shaking so badly it looked like it hurt. Minerva didn't know how long that poor girl had been sitting there, but she looked terrified. She'd taken her to the hospital wing immediately, and was shocked when Madam Pomfrey had been told that she had been sick all week and was staying in her dorm. Her friends had been picking up medication for her, saying that she was scared of hospitals. Currently, the poor child was still up there, crying and flinching at contact with anyone.

Now, she had seven guilty faces in her office, four sitting and three standing.

"So let me get this straight," she started, anger lacing her tone. "A student had a panic attack, ran off somewhere, and you four just started looking for her _today_? A week later? And you didn't tell _anyone_?"

They looked down, guilty.

"We didn't think she'd go far, and she was probably just hiding. We thought her friends knew where she was, and they just told us today that they've been trying to reach her all week.

Turning to the three other children, she glared at them.

"You knew a child was missing for SEVEN DAYS and you didn't tell ANYONE?"

The boy spoke up. 

"I wanted to, but they said not to. They didn't know if you guys knew about her... condition."

Minerva _did_ know about the girl and her condition. She wasn't a real witch and she was hiding at Hogwarts until a war blew over. She was helping her cousin, Nico, who wasn't currently present. That, however, had nothing to do with the current issue. "Of course I knew about her condition! All of the staff do, we agreed unanimously to accept her into the school, along with the rest of you!" The three children flinched, stepping back.

"You were stealing medication from the hospital wing and not giving it to anyone. I'm taking 700 points from your houses, 100 for each of you. Hufflepuff, you've lost 200. Ravenclaw, you'll lose 100. Slytherin, you will also lose 100. Gryffindor, you'll lose 300. Along with this, you're being suspended for a week." The students gasped, and she continued. "You let a child go missing and didn't tell anyone. She _was_ kidnapped, from what we can tell. We do not know who did it, and if we had known she was missing we might've been able to find her sooner. Now, she's suffered a traumatizing escape and has possible brain damage. You lied to Madam Pomfrey, endangered Miss Smith's life, and possibly destroyed her sanity. I'm ashamed of all of you. You may stay on Hogwarts grounds, but you cannot go to classes or participate in Quidditch matches. The only places you will be allowed to go are the Great Hall and the bathrooms."

The seven children looked at her, astonished.

"But Professor-!" Hermione started, sounding horrified. "Do not start with me, Miss Granger," Minerva said, stopping her before Hermione could utter a complaint. If you'll excuse me, I have to do a sanity check on that poor girl. Return to your dorms at once."

Murmurs of "Yes ma'am," and "Okay," were heard as the children left the room. Minerva went to the hospital wing immediately, being let in by Madam Pomfrey almost instantly. Professor Snape was there, along with Headmaster Dumbledore. The girl wasn't speaking. Tears were still rolling down her face, and both her arms and legs were cut up severely.

"We can't get anything out of her," Severus said. "Perhaps her friends could get her to talk."

Minerva shook her head. "I've suspended them and taken 100 points from each of them, so the houses have just been set back tremendously."

Sighing, Albus looked at the girl. "I don't think she can hear us," he said sadly.

"Let me try," Minerva answered, heading to stand in front of the girl. Crouching down to her height, she looked at the girl in her unfocused eyes. 

"Elizabelle, can you hear me? If so, please respond. We need you to talk to us, sweetie."

Severus raised his eyebrows. Minerva knew why. She never used the word 'sweetie', but this child had been damaged and the use of the word might connect her to her muggle past.

Slowly, her eyes came into focus. Upon seeing the adults gathered around, she crawled back towards the head of the bed quickly and hugged her knees to her chest, still crying.

"Can you tell us what happened?" she asked gently. The girl shook her head furiously. Minerva looked around. "We can try again another day. Don't let any visitors in, Madam Pomfrey. She needs to heal first."

Poppy nodded, ushering them out of the room. Minerva hoped that poor child would be okay. If not, they could have a possible lawsuit on their hands and a damaged child who can no longer function normally in society.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a good way for this story to turn, in my opinion. Don't worry, it'll get better soon. Happy reading! :)


	13. The Apologies.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella's friends try to reconcile for what they've done. Will she accept their half-assed apologies, or will she turn them away?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of cuts

Ella assumed that once she reached the office, the pain and shock set in. Realizing she must've been out for far longer than she thought, she collapsed from exhaustion. She wasn't sure what that thing did to her, but he must've gone through her brain while she was asleep. There were cuts on her arm, too, which was no doubt a product from her counterspell that must've gone wrong.

_I guess I didn't notice them at first._

The office she'd seen in the fireplace was real, and she didn't feel any burns. She _was_ pretty cold, though.

 _Dammit. I probably have a fever_.

She didn't know what time the nice lady found her, and she didn't remember who the lady was. She just knew that there were tears on her face and she couldn't stop them.

The lady helped her to a nurse's office, which is exactly where she _didn't_ want to go.

"It's okay, she can help you. Come along," she tried to coax.

When Ella didn't move, the kind lady carefully helped her up and practically dragged her the office.

The tears never stopped.

She couldn't hear at first. Eventually, the words started making sense. They asked her to focus. They asked her if she could tell them what happened. She said no. Images of that man and the snake haunted her. She couldn't remember what happened anymore. She didn't know how long she was in that room- it could've been months, for all she cared.

After a while, she woke up and felt better. The world wasn't underwater, the sounds weren't overwhelming, and the lights weren't too bright. The nurse noticed and paged someone. A few minutes later, the lady came by again, asking her what happened.

"Do you feel ready to talk?" She asked, sounding kind.

"I don't know," Ella responded. 

Relief flooded the lady's face. She smiled, seeming happy.

 _She must be glad I'm talking_.

"Well, do you remember what happened?"

Ella shrugged, not sure. Another smile. Ella smiled back.

_I don't even know if I remember, why is she smiling?_

"Do you want to try to tell me what happened later?"

Ella nodded again. 

"Okay. I'll come back after lunch and bring my colleagues. Try to remember while you're here, and make sure to eat something."

Ella nodded. The woman smiled and left.

_Who was that?_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later came much too quickly. The nurse fed her some food from the Great Hall, and then the lady was back with two men. Staring at them, everything hit at once.

_Kidnapped._

_Hogwarts._

_Snape._

_McGonagall._

_Dumbledore._

_Harry._

_Ron._

_Draco._

_Hermione._

_My friends._

_My cousin._

_The quest._

_The man with no nose._

_The snake._

_THE SNAKE._

Professor McGonagall -or Ella hoped that's who it was- started speaking and snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Can you start from the beginning?"

Ella nodded, trying not to hyperventilate.

_Talk or they'll be concerned._

"I walked into the Gryffindor dorm with my boyfriend, Ryan, because we were going to ask Hermione a question about the Charms homework. Ron and Harry were fighting about something that involved me and I think it made me upset, so I left."

Ella took a breath before continuing.

"I lost control of my legs and just started running. I'm pretty sure I ran into Draco at some point, but I freaked out and kept running. I don't know where I was going. When I stopped running, I was surrounded by trees. Then I blacked out."

The tears came to her eyes, and she forced them away.

"When I woke up again, I was in a library, and there was a man with no nose and a snake there. He tried to get into my brain, but I don't think he thought I was awake all the way. I don't know how far into my brain he got while I was asleep. There were bindings on my arms and legs- they were made of smoke. When the man went to bed, I searched his mind for the counterspell to whatever caused the smoky bindings, managed to get ahold of his wand using my telekinesis, and cast the counterspell. It got rid of the bindings but it cut me up. I think I went to his fireplace and looked for that floo powder stuff? I threw some in the fireplace and said 'Hogwarts'."  
Ella was now shaking.

 _Almost done. Just finish it_.

"Before I walked through, that weird giant-snake-thing was behind me and I think it almost killed me? Then I ended up here and went into shock and kinda forgot the world existed for a bit."

She looked up. The adults were staring at her, but she couldn't tell if it was a horrified or astonished look.

"Thank you, Elizabelle," Professor McGonagall said. "We're going to discuss some things and then we'll be back in a few days. Your friends will probably be by later to apologize and say hello, they feel rather guilty." 

"Guilty?" Ella asked, confused. 

"Yes," the Professor answered, not clarifying what she meant. "Good luck, we'll be back tomorrow with a decision on what to do."

And then she left, not looking back once.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Come on, hurry up!" Hermione said, ushering everyone to the hospital. Professor McGonagall said that Ella was ready for visitors and she wanted to apologize as soon as possible.

"'Mione, chill. I'm sure she's fine," Ron said offering her a smile. Hermione didn't return it, continuing to walk as fast as she could.

Eventually, the four children got there and saw Madam Pomfrey, who let them in after a minute of observing them. They walked to where Ella was, and Hermione got there first.

_Did they tell her?_

Ella was sitting up, leaning against the wall behind her bed, coloring. Hermione looked at the bandages all over her arms and legs, then at the expression on her face. She didn't look too happy.

Ryan got her attention first. He cleared his throat, which made her look up from what she was doing. For a second, Hermione thought she was going to be mad, but then she smiled. Hermione let out a breath, then smiled back.

_She doesn't know._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella liked coloring. Madam Pomfrey had given her the book instead of schoolwork, and she was grateful. The thought of having to return to school terrified her since she'd probably be returning as a legitimate student of Hogwarts. She didn't notice when her friends walked in, but she was so glad to see them. It'd been lonely here, all by herself for-

Wait.

How long had she been here?

The hours blended into days and the days blended into weeks, sure, but how long had she been here?

Brought out of her trance by Ryan, she looked to Hermione as she started speaking.

_They look apologetic. Why?_

"Hi, Ella. We wanted to apologize for-" 

Ella cut her off, looking confused.

"You didn't do anything wrong, right? Like, you told people I was missing and they looked for me. I don't even remember the first six days, just the end of the seventh, so I'm not even in that much mental pain. You tried your best, and that's okay. I understand."

She didn't like how guilty they looked. 

Harry took a turn speaking.

"Um... well, not exactly."

_What???_

Ron tried next.

"You see, we- we didn't exactly..."

He trailed off, looking too scared to say what he wanted.

"What? What'd you do?" Ella asked.

_They're scaring me._

In the end, Ryan, who didn't look as guilty, was the one who told her.

"We didn't tell anyone you were missing."

He seemed almost confident as he said it, almost as if he was proud of what he'd done.

Ella's mouth fell open.

"You _what_?"

"Ella, we can explain-" Hermione tried.

Ella wasn't having any of it.

_Fucking- I'm going to- just wait until-_

Ella's brain was running a mile a minute.

Glaring at Ryan, she spoke carefully.

"Get out. All of you. Tell the others they aren't welcome here either."

_Not telling anyone I was missing?? I hate you all._

Ryan frowned. "Babe, I don't think that's a good idea."

Ella stared at him, stunned. "We're done. Go find someone who's okay with you covering up their disappearance. Get out."

He looked stunned, then muttered a "Fine", turned on heel, and left.

The others followed soon after.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alone, by herself, Ella felt the tears threatening to fall. 

_Color. Don't focus on it._

She colored, forgetting about the rest of the world for a little bit.

_You need to eat._

She knew that. Her arms should've healed by now and left permanent scars behind, but they hadn't because she hadn't been eating.

A knock at the edge of the bed frame made her look up from her coloring.

 _Draco_.

Shooting him a glare, she looked back down.

"I told the others to tell the rest of you that I don't want visitors."

_You're interrupting my coloring._

He didn't answer, just sat at the foot of her hospital bed and began to read a book that he brought with him.

_Smartass._

"Why d'you have the bandages?"

It was a question, but it didn't sound like he cared if she answered it.

"Tried to cast a counterspell. It worked, but I didn't cast exactly right and it gave me these."

That got him to look up.

 _Prick_.

"You- you-" Draco couldn't finish his sentence.

She nodded, then went back to coloring. 

_Asshole._

He didn't move, just sat there.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell anyone sooner."

She raised an eyebrow at that. No one ever apologized. Hermione tried, sure, but it didn't sound sincere. It sounded more like a chore that she had to do to be friends again.

Searching his face (and mind) for insincerity, she found none.

"Okay."

Hurt didn't radiate off of him in waves like she thought it would.

 _Interesting_.

"You're a prick."

She knew she was right, and he did too. He smiled.

"Good to have you back. Be careful, though. You keep talking like that and you're going to become British."

She laughed quietly. 

_Don't laugh- he's no better than the rest of them._

"I broke up with Ryan."

Draco seemed taken aback when she said that.

"Why?"

"I don't date people who try to cover up my disappearance."

He cringed.

_Is he sorry?_

"We didn't want to get in trouble. It was a stupid reason."

She frowned, putting down the colored pencil.

"Why would you get in trouble? You didn't do anything wrong."

"You're hurt. We didn't want you to get hurt, and none of our friends have ever run off into the Forbidden Forest like that."

She laughed again. "I was fucking stupid. And for the record, Ryan had no remorse when he came to 'apologize'. Neither did the others. If it's a chore to apologize, don't."

He thought about that, not responding for a bit.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you in the Forest? Oh, sorry are you allowed to talk about that?"

She shrugged. "I can talk about it."

_He legitimately feels bad. Hmm._

She told him the story quietly, not trying to relive the moment. When she finished, Draco looked stunned. Or did he look amazed? Horrified? She could never tell.

"You escaped from _Voldemort_? God, you're going to be under so much protection now."

She nodded, then picked up another colored pencil and continued coloring. Reliving that wasn't going to be fun.

"Draco?"

"Hm?"

"How long have I been in here?"

He didn't answer right away. She looked at him, only to see him counting quietly.

"I'm not sure... maybe two weeks? It's almost time for finals, but I'm pretty sure you'll be exempt from those."

_Wow. That's a long time._

"There's a break coming up," he started. She didn't respond, so he kept going.

"Since you don't have anywhere to go for Christmas, do you want to come to meet my parents?"

She made a non-committal noise of surprise. "Little early, don't you think?"

Draco turned red.

She smirked.

"You _did_ say you wanted to meet the parents if I recall your date night correctly."

_He remembers._

"I don't want to spend all of Christmas there. No offense, but I was planning on calling my parents and talking to them."

 _If they pick up_.

"Yeah, that's fine. Just spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us. It'll be fun, I promise. If you hate it, you don't ever have to do it again."

She shrugged, then nodded.

"Okay."

Draco smiled. 

"It's a date."

With that, he got up and left, leaving his book behind. Ella picked it up almost as soon as he was gone.

 _Not getting this back anytime soon_.

"The Studies of Muggles and Their Behaviors"

_He could've just asked me._

She set the book on the nightstand next to her.

_I can't wait to read that._

With that out of the way and a smile on her face, Ella went back to coloring and thinking.

 _I do a lot of that now, don't I?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps there's a spark between Elizabella and Malfoy? Keep reading to find out! Drop a kudos if you liked this, and, as always: Happy reading! :)


	14. The Visits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco visits Ella daily, and she enjoys the visits. Finally, she's released from the hospital. How will her return to Hogwarts go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of cuts/scars (it sounds like self-harm in the story but it's not self-harm)
> 
> **I do not own Spotify or any of its songs**

_She accepted_.

Draco wasn't used to girls agreeing to go on dates. Sure, his parents wanted him to get close to her for 'business reasons', but he liked her and he'd be damned if he let his parents ruin that.

Leaving the hospital wing, he realized on the way back that he left his book there. Upon returning to grab it, he saw it on the nightstand, tabs sticking out of it, and some folded corners.

 _I knew she'd take it. Can't wait to see the changes she's made_.

She was asleep, so he left before Madam Pomfrey noticed he was there.

 _She can keep it_.

He'd never had guests over to Malfoy manner. Sure, there was the occasional boy in the first and second year, but they either left upon arrival or left the next day.

 _I have a Christmas date_.

Maybe he could convince her to go to Hogsmeade if she felt well enough.

The rest of the day flew by, and soon it was time for Quidditch practice.

 _I don't want to be here_.

The only thing he could think about during practice was Christmas break.

_Just get through finals next week and then you're safe._

After practice, he sent his mother and father an owl with the news. 

_I don't want them to know I like her._

**"Dear Mother and Father,**

**I'm pleased to tell you that Elizabelle has agreed to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us. However, because she's in such poor health, those will be the only two days she will be at Malfoy Manor. I've decided I will do the same, so expect me to be brief with our visit.**

**Yours,**

**Draco Malfoy"**

The letter was formal, but not too formal. His parents never really showed him love, but he hoped that wouldn't hurt his chances at love in the future.

_And I thought I wasn't into girls._

What was the term for liking girls and guys? Bi-something? Bisexual? That was probably it. He'd never admit it, nor would he tell his parents.

_That's how you get kicked out._

The day was over, the Quidditch match was tomorrow, finals were next Thursday and Friday, and Christmas was the week after that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco started visiting every day, and Ella appreciated that. They talked about everything, and he kept her up to speed.

"We should get you a wand during break since you can do magic. Also, I know you stole my book, Smith."

She blushed a little a smiled. He hadn't told anyone that he was visiting her daily, and she didn't want him to.

"We can if you want. And yeah, I was just correcting it."

The book sucked if she was being honest. 'All Muggles are lesser beings who don't grasp the concept of magic'? Rude.

"Well do tell me these corrections, since you've taken it upon yourself to practically destroy that book with post-it notes."

Smiling, she pulled the book out from where she'd been hiding it: a secret compartment in the nightstand. She kept her coloring book and colored pencils there as well.

"First off, we aren't any lesser than you are. We have technology that you've never even heard of!"

To prove her point, she pulled out a phone. Draco stared at it with a puzzled expression and reached for the phone.

"I'll show you how it works over break," she promised, putting it back in her pocket. Keeping it charged while at Hogwarts was harder than expected, but Professor McGonagall had given them chargers that worked while on school grounds. She'd texted her parents a lot while here, along with some of her other friends.

_No one responded._

"Second, we grasp the concept of magic. There's no need to treat us any differently just because we don't know that magic exists. We watch movies that involve it all the time, but no one believes that it exists. If we knew it did, that'd be dope, but we don't."

Draco's expression changed. "You know you can stop saying 'we', right? You're a witch, not a Muggle."

She shook her head. "I was raised by my parents who didn't know it existed. I'm as much of a Muggle as they are because I've never been to Hogwarts and I don't know half the things you guys do. Plus, I was kidnapped, so I missed out on basic schooling."

It was true. In all her years, she'd never once received a letter asking her to attend Hogwarts, and she was too advanced for her grade level. Math turned out to be a good way to punish a seven-year-old for disobeying.

"We'll catch you up to speed over the break as well. You're a quick learner, I'm sure you'll figure it out quickly."

She smiled, then looked at the clock behind him.

"Lunch is over soon, and you have a class to get to."

"Yeah. See you tomorrow!"

Ella waved, then pulled her phone back out. Plugging in earbuds, she opened Spotify and shuffled a playlist.

_I just want to be part of your symphony._

She colored in part of a mandala.

_Will you hold me tight and not let go?_

Switching to blue, she colored the edges.

_Symphony, like a love song on the radio._

Changing to purple, she colored some flower petals.

_Will you hold me tight and not let go?_

Coloring the center of the flower yellow, she realized she was done with the drawing.

Humming softly, she put the coloring book back before swiping through her phone.

 _All of my friends are home and safe_.

The text from the people she'd be staying with from California remained unopened.

 _You can stay with us when the war ends_.

They'd been understanding. She was going to call them on Christmas Eve, right after she tried her parents for the thousandth time.

 _I wish they loved me_.

They did, and she knew it. They just never responded, and that hurt.

_Hey mom! I'm in the hospital right now, text me back when you get this!_

That text had been sent a week ago.

_They'll respond eventually. They care. They love you. Don't give up on them._

Sitting up, she stared out the window of the hospital wing. Finals were tomorrow and then break. If she was good to leave the hospital, they were going to go to Hogsmede. She'd never been, and it sounded fun.

_Hungry._

She hadn't eaten today.

The cuts on her arms were almost healed, and the scars were starting to form.

 _They can match the rest of them_.

Madam Pomfrey came in later to do another checkup.

"You're good to go! Take it easy, and make sure to avoid things that could send you into a panic like stressful environments."

Ella nodded, grabbed her things, put her earbuds in, and left, turning up the music as she left.

 _You should see me in a crown_.

Walking back to Ravenclaw, she kept her head down.

_Your silence is my favorite sound._

The riddle was simple, and she got into the dorms quickly.

_Watch me make 'em bow._

She headed to her dorm, avoiding Julie.

_One by, one by, one._

Setting her things down, she waited for the song to finish before unplugging her earbuds.

_One by, one by (one)._

_OKay. I'm back in Ravenclaw. Let's try this again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! Drop a kudos if you liked it, and happy reading! :)


	15. Christmas Break.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The castle is practically empty, and now Ella has tons of time and no excuse to avoid her friends. Will they fix things or will she destroy the friendship once and for all?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: None
> 
> **Once again, I do not own Spotify

Christmas break came faster than Harry had expected. This year, he was going to spend it with Ron's family. While he was packing, Ron came in. Although they had apologized for the fight, tensions were still high.

"She's out of the hospital."

Harry knew who he was talking about.

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Ron answered. "She's spending Christmas with Malfoy."

Harry's blood ran cold. Of course, Malfoy would prey on a hurt, mentally unstable girl.

"What do we do?"

"I don't know. We can't follow her, that's creepy, but at the same time I don't want anything to happen to her."

Harry nodded. They couldn't get to Malfoy Manor without getting caught by someone, and flooing over would give away their presence immediately.

"I guess we should just hope for the best, right?" 

Ron shrugged. Harry could tell that he was still uncertain. "We can check in with her while she's there if you want," Harry offered.

Ron nodded.

 _That settles it_ , Harry decided. They'd send an owl.

"Let's go, our train's going to leave soon."

Harry picked up his trunk and headed to the train station. After saying goodbye to his friends, he, Ron, and Hermione all boarded the train. They talked about Malfoy and the girl who seemed to have captivated everyone's attention. As the train pulled away from the station, the only thing on Harry's mind was that girl and how much danger she might be in.

 _I hope she's okay_.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco, on the other hand, was having a great time. He was showing Ella how to perform spells, she was showing him how Muggle objects worked, and he was going to get her a wand tomorrow. He didn't know if she'd be allowed to enroll in Hogwarts, but he'd decided that they'd train like normal until a decision was reached.

"So this is a phone." Ella handed the phone to Draco, who turned it over in his hands, fascinated. She showed him how to use it and how the screen worked.

"When you plug in these things called 'earbuds'," she said, holding up her own, "You can listen to music without anyone else hearing it. Here, let me show you."

Plugging in the earbuds, she gave one to Draco and put the other in her ear. He copied her, and she opened Spotify again. Shuffling another playlist, she let the songs play. Draco started when the music began playing, and she laughed. They listened to music for a while before getting back to work.

Lunch came faster than expected, and Draco finally got around to opening the letter his mother had sent that morning.

**"Dearest son,**

**We are delighted to hear that you've finally taken to someone. Your father and I were worried you wouldn't find someone to marry. We look forward to you staying with us for Christmas. However, there is one thing we must ask: Is this girl of yours a pureblood?**

**Sincerely,**

**Narcissa & Lucius Malfoy" **

Sighing, he put the letter down. First of all, Elizabelle wasn't 'his girl', and he didn't appreciate them referring to her like that. Second, he didn't want to be thinking about marriage. Hell, they weren't even dating! Third, how was he supposed to tell his parents that she came from a family of Muggles? They certainly wouldn't like that. Picking up a quill, Draco wrote a letter back to his parents.

**"Mother and Father,**

**I do not appreciate you talking about marriage. I'm not even dating Elizabelle yet! No, she isn't a pureblood, but she's a halfling if that counts. From what I understand, you _wanted_ me to get close to her, so don't be upset if you get answers you don't like. Do not speak of her as an object, or we won't come to the Manor. **

**Cheers,**

**Draco Malfoy"**

Draco sealed the letter and went to the owlery to send it to his parents. He knew he'd receive a letter at dinner. His parents were never late. With no classes to do, he and Ella were bored, until she got an idea.

"Draco! Let's watch a movie!" 

Draco didn't know what a movie was, but he'd watch one if it made her happy. She picked a scary one, and they watched it in the Slytherin common room. Draco knew why they were watching it in his common room instead of in hers. Ella was avoiding her friends, who were also staying here for the holidays. Of course, she would never admit it, but Draco knew that she was still deeply hurt by their attempt at covering up her disappearance and their half-assed apology.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two hours later, the movie was over and Ella was both terrified and happy. Draco wasn't scared (lucky) but he still liked the movie. Bored, they looked for something to do.

"Why don't we go get your wand now?" he asked. It was still light out, so Ella assumed that the wand store would still be open for a bit.

"Sure!"

A couple of hours later and she had a wand. It was beautiful: made of Cypress wood, with a Phoenix feather core. At 12 and a half inches long, the wand was extremely flexible and Ella loved it. However, not being able to turn it into something that she could fit in her pocket agitated her.

 _You'll get used to it_.

By the time they got back, it was dark. Christmas was in two days, and they were going to go to Hogsmead tomorrow. After saying goodbye to Draco, Ella headed to the Ravenclaw common room, attempting to avoid Julie for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Ella, wait!"

Ella did not wait. Instead, she hurried to her room and locked the door behind her.

 _I need to know how to do a locking spell_.

Setting the wand on her nightstand, she listened to Julie knock on the door for about 10 minutes before giving up. This had been happening every night, with Julie's waiting period getting shorter and shorter. At first, she'd sit outside there for hours, sometimes falling asleep. Eventually, it shortened from hours to one hour, from that to 30 minutes, then 20, and now 10. Ella knew she was losing her best friend, but every time she looked at her it ripped a piece of her away. She hated losing her, and she missed her, but Julie left her for dead and didn't tell anyone. She had nightmares almost every night now, and she was terrified that the thing that kidnapped her was going to come back and finish the job.

_They could've shortened my stay at that horrid house if they'd told someone._

It might not be true, but Ella refused to believe otherwise.

Julie started knocking again.

_Did she come back? Why?_

"Ella, I'm not going away this time. I'll be here until the morning if that's what it takes. Please let me in, let's talk about this."

_Do it. Let her in._

_Don't. She hurt you once, she'll do it again._

_You miss her, you need her. Open the door._

_She deserves to rot. She left you alone out there and didn't tell anyone._

_She feels bad! She didn't know, and she got suspended._

_She didn't even try to visit!_

_You didn't want visitors!_

_That's no excuse._

_Let her in._

_Keep her out._

Finally, Ella opened the door.

"You can stay here. Do not talk. We aren't talking about this until I feel we should."

Julie, who had tears in her eyes, entered the room before Ella could change her mind. Ella turned out the lights and laid awake for a while. Finally, sleep came.

Ella dreamed of Julie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought and happy reading! :)


	16. The Trip- Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco and Ella begin to pack and prepare for the train ride to Malfoy Manor. Draco receives an unexpected letter from his parents, Ella is off in her own little world of bliss. Will it end well?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: None

Draco woke up happy. Christmas break was going great so far, and he was excited to see his parents tomorrow.

The train they were taking left at 6:00 AM, and they'd be there in time for lunch. He was pretty sure Ella had never _had_ a proper Christmas, so he was happy he got to show her his family's traditions.

Walking into the Great Hall, he saw Ella sitting with her friends.

 _Glad they made up_. 

He had a feeling she hadn't fixed things with Ryan, but at least she'd made up with the two that she cared about most.

Going to sit with them, he sat next to Ella before turning to her and letting her know what time the train left.

The girl she was talking to before he'd gotten there shot her a confused look before asking her question. "A train? Where are you going?"

Ella looked down, pink starting to spread across her face.

_Beautiful._

"I'm heading to Draco's for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so I won't be here. Sorry, Julie."

Julie scoffed lightly, then jokingly said "You didn't invite us? How rude."

Draco thought about it for a second, then decided that it might make Ella feel better if her friends were there.

"You two can come if you want. We have more than enough space, and it'll help this one," he nodded at Ella, "feel more at home."

The boy who was sitting next to Julie smiled. "We'd love to go, thank you. Are you sure we won't be intruding?"

Draco shook his head. "Hardly. My parents rarely have family over."

The girl (Julie, was it?) turned to Ella and said something quietly to her. Ella looked taken aback before responding with a curt "No," and leaving.

"Wait, Ella! Where are you going?"

Ella glanced back for a second when Julie asked. "I have to pack," was all she said before leaving.

Draco turned to the others, gave them the details about the train, and then left to do the same.

_So far, so good._

While packing, an owl came by for him. Taking the note it gave him, he unfolded it and began to read:

**"Dearest son,**

**We hope you didn't think we were implying that you marry this silly girl. You know that we do not allow mudbloods in this family. Halflings are very valuable, and we are pleased that you've found one. Your father's suspicions were correct, as always. Please get here as soon as possible.**

**Sincerely,**

**Narcissa & Lucius Malfoy" **

Draco stared in disbelief at the letter.

 _New mission: keep her_ away _from my parents, no matter the cost._

Picking up a quill and some parchment, he wrote a response quickly before the owl could become impatient.

**"Mother and Father,**

**We will be there tomorrow around noon. If you try anything with this girl or her friends, I'll expose the family and have you both arrested.**

**Warmest regards,**

**Malfoy"**

After signing it with only his last name (his way of being passive-aggressive), he sent it with the owl and went to pack.

_If you expose them, you'll go to jail too._

Draco completely knew the consequences. He didn't want the mark on his arm, but if he kept it hidden he wouldn't have to face it.

_A death eater. And a rather poor one, at that._

He hadn't asked for the mark. His father had forced him to get it. Try as he might, Draco would never be like his father. Angering him would anger the Dark Lord, who they were currently hiding in their house.

_She was kidnapped and brought to your house._

Draco knew where she had been brought before she had told him. His parents had sent him an owl with a letter detailing what Voldemort had found. He was disgusted.

 _Don't tell her. You don't want her to know about this life. You don't_ want _this life._

It was true. Killing people wasn't something Draco _wanted_ to do. As much as he hated Potter sometimes, he considered them friends and would never attempt to hurt him or his little posse.

Finally, the packing was done. Picking up his trunk, he set it in the common room and went to get dinner.

_Train leaves at six. Don't be late._

Dinner felt mechanical, forced. Ella hadn't shown up so they'd sat at separate tables, like normal. Every answer to a question, every laugh was fake. Draco felt horrible.

_What if you can't save her?_

He didn't know what his parents had planned. He didn't want to know. He had tried to get rid of the mark before, but no matter what spells he used, it stayed firmly in place on his arm.

_Potter and his friends will find out. You'll be exiled. No one will want anything to do with you._

Leave the Great Hall. Get ready for bed. Go to sleep.

At this point, Draco wasn't controlling his own body. His parents had something planned, and of course, they waited too long to tell him. That way, he couldn't back out or change plans.

_Keep her safe._

He would. Above all else, he would. He liked her too much to let her go.

_Pray that tomorrow goes well._

Eventually, sleep came.

Draco had nightmare after nightmare, each one worse than the last.

 _I hate my life_.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella woke up the next morning before the sun, excited. She'd managed to sleep (for once), and she was on okay terms with her friends. Now, she was getting to go somewhere for Christmas, and she might even have a family to return to once the war ended (or she finished schooling at Hogwarts, she still wasn't sure of her decision yet.).

For some reason, her phone didn't attract monsters, so Ella scrolled through apps mindlessly while she waited for the others to get up.

_ Ping. _

_Ryan._

**_Baby, imy. Please come back?_ **

_Ugh._

_ Ping. _

**_Please babydoll i need you in my life. i made a huge mistake and im so sorry._ **

More half-assed apologies. When will he learn?

_ Ping  . _

**_Hello? R u there? Plz respond. Ik ur up._ **

_Oh, Ryan. You're so naive. I thought you were so far out of my league when we first started dating. Used to wonder why you liked me. Thought you were the best I could do, and that you were the one for me. Thanks for proving me wrong, douchebag. :)_

_ Bloop  _.

Message sent.

_Anddddd... blocked. No more messages from him._

Walking to the Great Hall, Ella sat down to eat breakfast. Plugging in her earbuds, she turned the music up to drown out her thoughts.

_I just want to eat in peace._

A tap on her shoulder made her turn.

_Draco!_

Smiling, she motioned for him to sit and took out an earbud. He didn't sit, deciding instead to ask her a question.

"We have to leave soon, are you ready?"

She nodded happily.

"Just finishing breakfast, I'll meet you at the entryway with the others and we can walk to the station as a group."

Draco seemed uncomfortable, and it was taking everything in her power to not read his mind right then and there and figure it out.

 _Reading someone's mind is wrong, you know that_.

_He's hiding something!_

_...true._

_And it's so much fun! Just one thought._

_..._

Unable to resist the urge, Ella carefully started pushing past the mental shields to get to his surface mind. Normally, you could read someone's surface mind easily, but Draco seemed on edge, which caused his mental shields to be harder to push past.

 _Please don't notice me_.

She found what he was so worried about almost instantly.

_A letter from his parents. Why is this such a problem?_

Mentally scanning the letter, she felt her stomach drop.

_Are they going to kill me?_

From what she could tell, Draco didn't want anything bad to happen to her, and Ella trusted him. However, saying she was 'valuable' and referring to her as an object wasn't making it any better.

A quick look at the response letters Draco had sent back to them made Ella feel so much better. 

"Ella? Hello? Anyone in there?"

_Oops._

"Yup! Let's go, the train will leave soon."

They met up with Ella's two other friends and boarded the train, preparing for a six-hour trip to Wiltshire.

 _I hope I make it out of this alive_.

Glancing around at her friends, who all looked happy, Ella relaxed.

_You're just being paranoid. Nothing is going to happen while we're there._

Putting her earbuds in, Ella closed her eyes and let the music wash over her, carrying away any anxious thoughts.

_Malfoy Manor, here we come._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this one, and I hope y'all do too. Part 2 is on the way! Happy reading! :)


	17. Christmas.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella and her friends spend the night at Malfoy Manor. The next day, they wake up with almost no recollection of the night before. What happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Drugged food/drinks
> 
> **It may be hard to understand Ella. Because of this, I provided 'translations' next to the slurred words. Hope that helps!

"Ella. Psst, Ella. Get up, we're almost here."

Draco was poking her gently.

"Wasssfesdf??"

"Yes, wasssfesdf."

Ella, now fully awake, sat up, and fixed her outfit.

"Ow, my neck. Have you heard from Nico lately? I didn't see him yesterday."

Draco shook his head, waking up the others.

"Huh. I'll contact him tomorrow. Don't want him feeling left out on Christmas."

A few minutes later, the train came to a stop at the station, and the four departed. Ella hailed a cab, told Draco to give the driver the address, and everyone settled in for the 30-minute ride to the Manor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco looked up at the Manor. 

_Just like I remembered it: gloomy and terrifying._

Ella slipped her hand into his, probably scared. No one seemed to notice.

He went up and knocked on the door, standing up a little straighter.

Ella squeezed his hand softly.

_Cute._

His mother opened the door, and Ella let go, much to Draco's disappointment.

_You aren't even dating. Don't get too attached too fast._

"Draco! So glad to see you and your friends. Come in, come in."

_Mother's putting on the fake cheery act._

Ella smiled, then spoke.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Malfoy. Draco has told us so many nice things about you, and we're very grateful to be able to spend Christmas with you and your family."

She finished her sentence with another soft smile, not overdoing it _._

_Damn, she's good._

His mother, probably taken by surprise, just smiled back and thanked her.

The four entered the house and were greeted by the house-elf. Ella and her friends jumped a little bit, and Draco's mother looked at them questioningly.

"Mother, they've never seen a house-elf," Draco reminded her carefully. 

"Oh! Right. Children, this is our house-elf. They're kind of like our servants or butlers that help out around the house."

Ella was entranced by the elf, and Draco smiled as she crouched down to talk to it.

"She's a weird one, alright," his mother whispered to him. Ella's head shot up, and he could see her glaring at his mother. Shaking his head at her, Draco tried to calm her down non-verbally. Ella sighed, then went back to talking to the house-elf.

"Lunch will be ready soon, but in the meantime, the elf will show you to your rooms."

Draco followed the elf as it showed them to two rooms: One for the girls and one for the boys.

"Draco, don't you have your own room?" Ella questioned, confused.

 _Voldemort has it_.

"Yeah, but when I started Hogwarts we started using that room as storage. When I come home, I use one of the guest rooms."

_A lie._

Ella nodded, then walked away. Draco went into the room he was going to have to share with Lucas and set his stuff down.

"Your mother doesn't seem like the nicest," Lucas said softly.

"That's because she isn't. My parents are probably the worst you could get," Draco responded stiffly.

Lucas looked away.

_Oops. Went too far, didn't I?_

His mother called, saying dinner was ready.

_Joy._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella sat down at the table, talking politely.

"This is great, thank you," Julie said. Mrs. Malfoy nodded, then smiled. Mr. Malfoy said nothing. He scared Ella.

They continued making polite conversation, and Ella noticed her friends getting sleepy.

_I feel sleepy too. Why? I'm never tired at night._

Slowly, her head dropped to the table.

"Ella? Whasthappen?" Julie slurred, sounding confused. Next to her, Lucas and Draco were already asleep.

"I don't know..." Ella responded, close to slurring her words.

"Narcissa, take them to their rooms. Leave the halfling."

Ella could hear them talking, but couldn't make out the rest.

_So tired... sleepy... g'night..._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco woke up the next morning feeling sluggish.

_What happened?_

Last night... dinner... then what?

_Mom was being friendly... smiling... she liked us? What happened?_

God, everything was so fuzzy.

On the bed across from him, Lucas stirred. Draco tried not to make too much noise as he got up and got ready, then headed downstairs. Trying to ignore the buzzing in his head, he felt a headache start to come on.

 _Great_.

"Good to see you're up, Draco."

He stiffened, not turning around.

"Merry Christmas Mother."

He went to the living room to look at the tree. Several presents were under it, addressed to him and his friends.

_That was nice._

"Where's Father?" he called, not seeing him anywhere.

"Work." 

His mother's tone left no room for questions.

Hearing movement, Draco turned to see Ella, still sleepy, walking downstairs.

"Whahappenlasni?" (What happened last night?)

_She looks adorable._

"What do you mean?" 

Draco was curious. 

_Does she remember something?_

"Ev'yonegotsuuuperslpyaaadiner." (Everyone got super sleepy at dinner.)

_Still slurring. She's probably still half-asleep._

"Oh. Probably the food, that happens sometimes."

"M'kay."

She walked back upstairs, probably to wake up fully and get dressed.

_God, she's so cute._

A few minutes later, she walked back downstairs in a short-sleeved shirt and leggings.

"Canstopslurrr." 

"What?" Draco was starting to get worried.

After seemingly much effort, Ella tried again. "Can't... stop... slurring."

"Why?"

"Dunno. Helme." (Don't know. Help me.)

Draco thought for a second.

"Did you miscast a spell?"

She shook her head.

"Sleepatdiner." (Sleepy at dinner)

"Oh. Was it the food?"

Another head shake.

"Ev'yonwatire, nojusme." (Everyone was tired, not just me)

_God, she's hard to understand._

"We were all like that?"

A nod.

"Yea."

"Okay, well it should wear off soon. Do you wanna come sit with me until the others wake up? We can watch one of those things on your... phone?"

A nod.

"Calvideos. Whagenre?" (They're called videos. What genre?)

Draco shrugged.

"You pick."

She sent him one of those glowing smiles and sat down next to Draco, who tentatively put his arm around her. Instead of pulling away, as he expected her to, she leaned into him and put the phone on the table so he could see.

He grinned back, then noticed something.

"Ella, what's that on your arm?"

She gave him a questioning look, then glanced down at her wrist.

"What...?"

Pulling back her sleeve, more of the thing was shown.

A skull with a snake coming out of its mouth.

_The dark mark._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a kudos if you enjoyed this chapter! Happy reading!


	18. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The memories of last night come flooding back and our little group of four returns to Hogwarts.  
> **There might be some hard-to-read spots, but I was on a time crunch and couldn't write them in. I'll probably go back another time and edit them in, but for now, just try your best to understand them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of being drugged/light torture

Ella's face paled.

 _Where did I get that from? What happened last night? Why can't I talk and_ why _am I so okay with touching people all of a sudden?_

"Drac... wassat?"

She frowned, frustrated.

_They drugged us, didn't they? I overheard something last night. Dammit, my brain's all fuzzy._

The normal urge in her brain that told her to stop touching Draco and run was gone. Ella didn't know if she liked that or not. She depended on that part of her to tell her what was considered dangerous, and right now nothing was signaling danger.

_Maybe he doesn't trigger it._

Draco frowned.

"You don't know what that is?"

Another sluggish head shake.

_I hate everything._

Draco cursed quietly, then got up and left.

She pulled her sleeve up over her wrist once he was gone, not looking at the mark again. She tried to stay focused on the video, but her eyes kept zoning out.

_Why can't I focus? What am I missing?_

Hoping the feeling would go away, Ella heard shouting in the kitchen.

_Don't listen to it._

_So tired... just a little bit of sleep._

Laying down on the couch, Ella closed her eyes.

_Just... resting my eyes..._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Julie woke up with a headache.

_Did we get drunk? I completely blacked out._

Every time she tried to remember, her head pulsed and made her feel sick.

A soft knock on the door made her look up.

"Do you feel... as bad as I do?"

Lucas was standing in the doorway, holding his stomach.

Nodding, Julie didn't move.

"What did we do? I feel like moving will make me puke."

Lucas sank to the floor very slowly, arms still around his stomach. Some movement to the left made Julie turn, which made her wince in pain.

Draco walked up the stairs, with Ella close behind. They came and sat down.

"Whahappen?" Ella asked, making a noise of frustration when she couldn't form words.

Julie looked at her in sympathy.

"I don't remember."

Ella cradled her head in her hands, groaning. Draco leaned into her a little bit but didn't touch her. Julie sent Ella a confused look, who stared back at her with unfocused eyes.

_Yikes, she's really out of it._

"Draco, she looks high," Lucas remarked.

_Lucas is right._

"I can't remember what happened," Draco said, glancing at Ella in concern.

"Same for us," Lucas said, wincing again.

"Smay," Ella tried, before putting her head back down and making another noise of frustration and pain.

 _She sounds like she's going to cry_.

"I don't know what she got hit with," Draco said, looking down.

"Did we get drunk??" Julie asked, still searching her mind for information.

Draco shook his head.

"My parents don't allow minors to drink unless it's New Years'. I wonder if the food had something in it."

Julie felt an all-too-familiar feeling in her stomach. "I think I'm going to puke, I'll-"

She cut herself off running to the bathroom, barely making it there before throwing up.

 _God, we must've gotten drunk_.

Suddenly, an image began to form.

**_"Ella? Wasthappen?" Julie asked, nearly face-planting into the table._ **

**_"I don't know..." Ella responded, focusing hard on forming words._ **

The image faded, and Julie felt an empty-sick feeling start to form. Going back out to the hallway, more pieces flashed.

**_"Hahhaaa... Lucas, thas so funny! 'M so tired..."_ **

**_Julie nearly hit the table again._ **

**_"Saem Julie!!! Sssso sleeeeeeeeeepy... go'night."_ **

"Oh god... I'm remembering things."

Draco nodded, cringing.

"What did we _do_??"

More flashes.

**_"Lucas! Psst, Luuuucassss... you awake?"_ **

**_Julie, who had woken up after being placed in her bed, was standing outside Lucas and Draco's room._ **

**_"Yesss 'm up. Wah is it?"_ **

**_"Wnna plad truth orr dare?"_ **

**_"Y'now it!"_ **

**_Lucas hurried out into the hallway, where Draco was waiting for them._ **

"What the _hell_ did we take?" Draco sounded pissed.

"I don't know," Ella said, concentrating hard.

Julie smiled. "Glad to see it's wearing off."

Wincing, Ella touched her head again.

_Wow, she's in pain. Wasn't she just playing truth or dare with us?_

Another memory flashed. Julie grabbed it.

**_"Guyssss... didya hear that?"_ **

**_Another scream sounded from downstairs._ **

**_"'S probably nothing," Lucas said._ **

**_"M'ght be my parents," Draco commented, making a face._ **

**_Everyone groaned, and then Julie sat up from where she'd been laying._ **

**_"Whe'rs Ella?" she asked, looking around._ **

**_Draco and Lucas looked around, then shrugged._ **

**_"Sleepin?"_ **

**_Julie thought about it, then nodded._ **

**_"NeXT DARE!"_ **

"Ella..." Julie started, looking at her.

"Yeah?"

"Where were you last night? You didn't play truth or dare with us?"

Ella went silent. After about five minutes, she jerked back, yelping in pain.

"Oh my god, are you okay??"

Ella grimaced, then nodded

Julie closed her eyes and tilted her head back.

_What the hell happened last night?_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella was currently combing her brain for memories of the night before.

**_Tied to a chair._ **

**_Smoky bonds._ **

**_Two adults._ **

**_PAIN._ **

Her head flared up again, meaning she'd reached another wall. "Ow..." she murmured.

Draco rested a hand on her arm, and she flinched a small bit. 

_There's the missing piece of my brain._

"Sorry!" he whispered. "Just wanted to know if you're okay."

_Horrible._

"Just dandy. By the way, I found some cuts on my stomach and back. Any idea of where they're from?"

Draco shook his head.

_His parents fucking did it, didn't they? Sick bastards._

Another memory floated into place.

**_"You're going to help us, okay sweetie?"_ **

**_Narcissa smiled that sickly sweet smile._ **

**_"Wha...?" Ella was incoherent, not able to understand what was going on._ **

**_"Oh, you poor, poor, girl. You'll thank us later."_ **

**_The noseless man-thing appeared in front of her._ **

**_Narcissa pulled Ella's sleeve up._ **

**_"Just hush, dear, it'll be over soon. Then the real fun can begin."_ **

**_The man-thing pressed his finger to her arm._ **

**_Ella screamed._ **

Ella blinked, flinching again.

"Ella, are you sure you're okay?" Julie asked, sending her a concerned look.

Draco looked at her arm, then back up at her.

"Yeah... fine. When do your parents get up, Draco?"

Draco glanced at his watch. "In about an hour."

"When does the next train leave?"

Ella bit her lip, fidgeting.

"In about an hour. Why?"

"We all need to leave. Now."

Julie looked confused.

"Why?"

Ella was shaking now. Everything was getting a little blurry. 

_I can't see straight._

"Your parents drugged us and almost killed me, we need to leave."

Julie paled. "Ella are you sur-"

She nodded, then got hit by a dizzy spell and almost puked before speaking again. "One hundred percent. We need to get out of here."

Draco just nodded, not saying anything for a minute.

"Go get your things, we should leave sooner rather than later."

Lucas looked at Draco, surprised that he wanted to leave.

"Okay," Lucas said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

30 minutes later, they were at the station and on the train back to Hogwarts. They'd almost missed it, and Ella momentarily panicked. Now, she was hyperventilating on the train, trying to calm down.

"So, you were drugged, tied up, and then _tortured_ by Draco's parents??"

_I'm not sure._

She nodded.

"I think so... I remember the noseless man-thing and two other adults."

"And you're _sure_ this happened and it wasn't a dream?"

She nodded.

"I have the marks to prove it."

Next to her, Draco frowned.

"You're going to tell Professor McGonagall about this, right?" Julie asked.

Ella nodded.

"Ella... are you sure that's a good idea?" Draco questioned.

She raised an eyebrow, questioning him silently.

"I have that stupid mark on my arm now, and it's burning like hell. I don't want it, and no offense, but your parents should get in trouble for this."

Draco just nodded.

_I'm sorry, Draco. Really, I am._

Just then, a rainbow appeared. 

_Nico._

"Hey, Neeks!"

He faltered when he saw the others.

"Is this a bad time...?"

She shook her head.

_Yes._

"Not at all, don't worry."

Nico smiled, then continued.

"The war's getting worse," he commented.

Ella looked down.

_I know._

"Yeah, but at least everyone's safe. Merry Christmas, by the way."

Nico grimaced, then said it back softly.

_Is he hurt?_

"Where've you been, by the way? Haven't seen you around lately."

_And you stopped coming to meals._

"Oh, just busy. Don't worry about it."

Ella did worry about it.

Nico shifted, then continued. "Look, I gotta go, okay? Merry Christmas and stay safe."

Ella nodded, trying to hold back the tears.

"Okay."

The rainbow disappeared, and Ella hugged her feet to her knees.

 _He's not okay_.

The rest of the ride to Hogwarts was silent. When the train stopped, Ella got off and walked briskly to Professor McGonagall's office.

Knocking, she heard a soft "Come in," and entered.

She'd been in this office before but didn't remember it. There were bookshelves, that special fireplace thing (She still didn't know what it was called, damn.), and a fancy wooden desk. The professor looked up and smiled, then motioned to a chair. "Miss Smith, how nice to see you. Please, have a seat."

Ella sat down, shaking.

"Mrs. McGonagall-" Ella stopped herself.

_Professor. Not Mrs._

"Sorry, _Professor_ McGonagall," Ella corrected. The professor nodded, smiling.

Looking everywhere but at the professor, Ella spoke.

"Ifsomeonemarksyouwiththedarkmarkbutyoudontwantithowdoyouremoveit?"

The words came out in a blur, and Professor McGonagall looked confused.

"Come again?"

Ella sighed, then took a deep breath.

"If someone marks you with the dark mark but you don't want to be marked, how do you remove it?"

The professor frowned.

"Is there something you're trying to say, Miss Smith?"

Ella rolled up her sleeve and laid her forearm on the desk. The ugly mark stared back at her, completely black and burning.

The professor gasped. "How did you get that?"

Ella looked down, then spoke.

"I spent Christmas at Draco's place. His parents drugged all of us and had Voldemort gave me the mark. After, I think they hurt me because I have some cuts that I didn't before, but I can't remember too much. My friends don't, either."

The professor looked at Ella, concern on her face.

"And you didn't go looking for Voldemort to... _get_ this mark?"

Ella was shocked.

"I would never! I'm here to catch that horrifying thing, stay alive while a war goes on in my home country, and possibly get an education here seeing as I can perform magic, which you still have yet to talk to me about."

The professor nodded.

"I understand. We'll call someone from the ministry right away. For now, you will remain in your dorm and only leave when necessary. Your friends will do the same. I'll have Hermione bring you your studies and start training you in spells. You will be allowed to get an education here, but we need to take care of the situation at hand first. I assume you have a wand, at least?"

Ella nodded, mouth dry.

"So I'm on lockdown, then?"

The professor frowned.

"Unfortunately, yes. Is there anyone else you know that's been marked? If so, they should stay with you, so we can keep an eye on both of you at the same time."

_Draco. Tell her about Draco._

_What if he wanted the mark?_

_No, that's stupid. He wouldn't want the mark, you know that._

The professor cleared her throat.

"If you know anyone, please tell me now, Ella. You kids are young and can't make clear decisions for yourselves. Even if it may seem like one of your friends wanted the mark, they can't make that decision for themselves yet. They aren't old enough, and their brain is still developing."

_Tell her. He doesn't want this, you know it._

"Draco Malfoy. He doesn't want the mark, I know he doesn't professor. Please don't let them arrest him, he hasn't done anything to me or my friends-"

The professor held up a hand, and Ella quieted.

"We won't let him go to jail, but he might face punishment. He will stay in one of the Ravenclaw dorms for the time being, as I'm sure we can move some students around and find an empty one."

Ella didn't say anything. Professor McGonagall led her to the door.

"Head straight to your dorm and tell _no one_ about this incident. We'll contact someone right away, and I'll send owls to your friends that aren't here and explain the situation."

Ella said nothing, just left.

_Great. Now I'm on lockdown._

Deciding that reaching out to Draco mentally would be worth a try, she attempted to see if he was in her mental range.

He was.

_Draco?_

**_Yeah?_ **

It was weird, not having him be startled when she contacted him like this.

_At least he's used to it._

**_Ella? You there? Is something wrong?_ **

_No, Draco. I'm on lockdown until your parents are arrested. So are you, and so are Lucas and Julie._

**_Me? Why?_ **

_I told them about your mark. I'm super sorry, please don't be mad at me._

She felt his emotions change. He wasn't hurt or mad. Just surprised.

**_I'm not, just really surprised that you would do that. Did they say what would happen to me? And who's 'they'?_ **

_Professor McGonagall. She said you wouldn't go to jail but you might face punishment for it. I'm really sorry, but I don't need to go to jail if this blows up later, and neither do you._

**_No, I get it. It's fine._ **

It wasn't. He was scared, and Ella knew it. She didn't mention anything about it.

_At least you'll get to stay in the Ravenclaw dorms._

**_Wait, really?_ **

_Yeah. She said she wanted to be able to keep an eye on both of us because of the dark mark. I'm pretty sure that's code for "Your parents might try to kill us," but I don't want to think about that._

**_Blimey. Okay then._ **

Ella laughed.

_You're so British._

**_Well, I was born here. It's your fault that you aren't more British, really._ **

_Oh, so it's my fault that I don't have such an awesome accent? If I could be British, I would. Trust me on that._

**_So you like my accent then?_ **

_I can guarantee that most women from America unanimously agree that guys who have British accents are the hottest people alive._

**_Interesting._ **

_See, that's concerning. I don't know what you mean by that._

**_You know what I'm thinking, just go figure it out._ **

_Wait, I'm allowed to do that?_

**_I thought you already did that._ **

_No, I don't read too deep into people's minds unless I have verbal consent._

**_Does mental consent count?_ **

_Do you want it to count?_

No answer. Ella worried she overstepped, that asking for something like that was too much.

**_Yes._ **

_Then it counts._

**_Okay. We should go to Hogsmead, by the way._ **

_Sorry to break it to ya, Malfoy, but we aren't allowed to leave the school._

**_Damn._ **

_See, that's something Americans say. I'll turn you into an American yet._

**_That's treason, love._ **

_Can't you just turn off your accent??_

**_What, it's too hot for you?_ **

_I never said that._

**_You implied it._ **

_Did not!_

**_Did so! You Ravenclaws are so transparent sometimes._ **

_...fine._

**_Called it!_ **

_I hate you._

**_Okay._ **

_Julie's here, I gotta go. I'll see you later, Malfoy._

**_Dear lord, stop calling me that._ **

_Bye!_

Ella could hear his muted protests as she gently placed his thoughts back into the raindrop that she had designated for him.

Julie walked in, flopped on the bed, and sighed.

Ella did the same.

_It's going to be so hard to stay in this room._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! If you liked this chapter, drop a kudos! Happy reading :)


	19. The Beginning of the End.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ron and Harry are concerned, and Draco does some soul-searching.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

Ron was worried.

He and Harry had sent owls to Malfoy Manor yesterday and received no reply.

Hopefully, Ella and the others realized that Malfoy and his family were all nut jobs and left.

Currently, they were opening presents from under the tree.

"Thank you very much, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, looking at the wool sweater that Ron's mom had hand-knitted for him.

Ron had one too, and they were always the same colors.

"Yes, thank you mother," Ron remarked, staring at his maroon sweater with distaste.

_Maroon. Ew._

"Should we try sending another owl to the Manor?" Harry quietly asked.

"Maybe after we finish with presents," Ron answered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was lunchtime and an owl had arrived with a letter from Professor McGonagall.

"Ron, come look at this," Harry called from the kitchen.

Ron walked over to where Harry was standing, holding the letter.

Taking it from Harry, Ron read the letter.

**"Ron and Harry,**

**I trust you'll keep what I'm about to say confidential. You cannot let a word of this escape unless you are talking to the parties involved. We have reason to believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is coming after some of your friends, specifically Miss Elizabelle Smith, and she'll have to be put on lockdown until we can ensure her safety. You two, along with Miss Hermione Granger, will bring her any homework your classes may assign. If we find out that you have been telling other students about this, there will be consequences. I cannot say more, for fear of this owl being intercepted.**

**Sincerely,**

**Professor Minerva McGonagall"**

Ron and Harry stared at each other, eyes wide.

"What did they _do_?"

Ron didn't know how to respond. What had happened at Malfoy Manor that caused He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to go after Ella? 

"I'm not sure, Harry, but how much do you want to bet Malfoy had something to do with it?"

Harry just nodded.

Ron sighed.

_For once, I can't wait for Christmas break to be over._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco was proud of himself.

_I suppressed my emotions. She didn't know._

Despite what he'd said- or rather, thought, to Ella, he was angry. He knew why she'd told the professor about him, but he didn't want anyone to know. 

_I could face jail time. My whole family might go to jail._

Draco stared at the wall of his dorm. 

_It's too blue._

He hated this house. He didn't know why, but he did.

_Why couldn't she have been a Slytherin?_

He knew why. She matched almost all the qualities for a Ravenclaw. Despite what she'd said before, her house was concerned about her and her well-being. Ravenclaws may stab each other in the back, but they still cared for each other.

_She just can't see it._

A perfect match for this house, some might say. Draco stared at the wall some more.

_My family is going to go to jail. I'm going to go to jail. And it's all her fault._

He really couldn't stay mad at her, she was just trying to do the right thing. She _was_ right in some aspects. Draco had gotten the mark to protect his family. That didn't mean he wanted it.

_There's no way to get rid of it._

He stared at the mark a lot. He hated the way it looked, hated what it said about him.

_Why'd you get it, then?_

He hadn't had a choice. It would be on him forever, and he'd have to live with that.

_I hate it._

_I hate myself._

_I hate my family._

_I hate my life._

Sometimes he wondered if anyone would care if he went missing or turned up dead. 

_Probably not._

The marks on his stomach were there, they'd never fully gone away.

_Scars to remind you that you couldn't commit and do it._

_You couldn't even die properly._

_What a failure._

One day, Draco had gotten tired and taken a knife to his stomach. The house-elf had found him, almost dead.

He'd gotten grounded for three months.

_That summer was awful._

No one cared, no one reached out to him at all during those three months.

Sure, no one knew, but it still hurt.

Not even bloody Potter reached out.

_Potter hates you, don't be stupid._

They still weren't on good terms. Draco was on thin ice with the other two, but he and Potter could barely make it through a meal together without arguing.

_Would he act differently if he knew?_

No.

_Stop wanting him to be your friend. You hate him, no matter how much you've been through with him. Potter isn't your friend, just someone who tolerates you._

Most people tolerated him, most were scared of him, some were disgusted by him, but nobody actually liked him.

_They're all fake._

Draco stared at the wall.

A tear slipped down his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting closer to the end of this story! Hope you're enjoying this! Happy reading :))


	20. Her Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella gets her first taste of lockdown and hates it. Three surprise guests show up to help her deal with the everlasting boredom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of past violence (non-graphic descriptions)

Hermione had gotten the letter yesterday and was worried. Granted, she worried a lot, but she genuinely liked Ella.

_At least the professor is letting me teach her magic._

There were only four days left until break ended. The letter said 'friends', in the plural form of the word.

_Who else is involved?_

Her Christmas had been nice, with lots of relaxation. Hermione's parents always knew how to get her to take a break from studying and chill out.

_At least they aren't like the Durselys._

Hermione had heard stories from Harry about his horrid aunt and uncle. They sounded awful, and she _never_ wanted to meet them.

 _The only thing stopping them from hurting him is the constant threat of him hexing them_.

Hermione knew that they couldn't do magic outside of school, but that didn't mean the Durselys knew it, and Harry had been known to push boundaries.

_They almost took his wand once when he accidentally did wandless magic. He's a special one, that's for sure._

Hermione had wanted to speak with Ella more about the wandless magic she did. It fascinated her, and she wanted to learn everything she could about it. People underestimated her because of her 'mudblood' background a lot, so Hermione wanted to prove them wrong and know everything that she could about the wizarding world.

_I'll work in the ministry someday and that'll show them._

She'd gotten better grades than Malfoy, and it made her happy to know she could beat a pureblood at something.

_Not to mention my supportive parents._

Hermione thought back to the day she punched him.

_Man, that felt good._

She wished she'd punched him harder sometimes. Sure, they were 'acquaintances' now, but that didn't mean she'd let him hurt her friends. Also, watching Malfoy nearly start crying after she'd hit him was a plus.

_Should've broken that bloke's nose._

Pushing the thought to the side, she went back to trying to figure out what had happened at Malfoy Manor.

_Maybe she got kidnapped? Drugged? Would the Malfoys drug someone?_

"Hermione, time for dinner!"

Sighing heavily, Hermione walked downstairs.

 _I can't wait to go back to school_.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Julie was sitting in Ella's dorm. They had been playing games and watching movies on her laptop to pass the time.

"What now? I'm so sick of rom-coms, I could puke," Ella groaned, flopping on the bed.

"I don't know. We could look up some games or something? Are Draco and Lucas allowed in here?"

Julie looked at Ella, who shook her head. 

"Nah, we have to stay separated. Wonder why. Anyway, I found this game online we could play. It's called 'Zork'? It's like completely online, and there's like on visuals or anything. **(A/N: This game exists, and it's awesome. Play it here:** classicreload.com/zork-i.html **)**

Julie thought about it and shrugged. "Sure, why not? We have nothing better to do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They played for a couple of hours, and then it was time for dinner. 

Julie went, Ella stayed.

"I'll bring you something back," Julie promised.

The door swung shut behind her, and Ella was alone.

She stared at the wall, zoned out.

"Ella?"

The voice startled her, and she jumped, hitting her head on the ceiling.

_How long was I zoned out for?_

"Hermione?"

_Why is she here?_

"Why are you here? You still have, like, four days of break left."

Hermione stepped into the room, gingerly closing the door behind her. Holding out something, Ella realized it was food. She took it.

_A peace offering._

"I got a letter from Professor McGonagall and wanted to make sure you were okay. Also, you need to get caught up on the spells we're learning."

Ella nodded. She was technically supposed to be a grade lower than Hermione's, but they'd decided it was best (for some reason) to put her with the 15 and 16-year-olds. Ella now had a _lot_ to learn about spells, and she had all the time in the world to do it.

"So, I grabbed some books from the library in the common room, and we're going to work through every spell that you need to know. Defense spells, handy spells, weird spells, everything. I might even see if Harry can teach you the Patronus spell because I have a feeling you'd be able to do that, and you might need it in the future for protection."

Ella didn't say anything. Hermione went over to her desk and dropped the books on the table with a quiet _thud_.

"And _why_ , exactly, would I accept your help?"

Ella stared at Hermione, unimpressed.

"Because you need the protection and god knows who else would teach you."

"Draco would."

Hermione froze.

"He wouldn't. Now, if you'll let me continue, we'll start with _Lumos_.You're going to move your hand like so-"

Hermione demonstrated, moving her wand in a loop, then continued. "-and say the spell: Loo-mos."

_If she thinks I'm going to listen to her, she's got another thing coming._

Ella tried it, and it almost worked.

_I guess I'm listening to her._

"No, move your hand a little more to the left- yes! That's the right way."

Ella stared at her wand, now alight, and smiled.

 _This could be fun_.

_Even if Hermione's the one teaching me._

"To turn it off, just say _Nox_."

"Nox," Ella repeated. The light went out.

"That's _so cool!!_ "

Hermione smiled at her, then began on another spell.

Ella watched as she moved her arm in another pattern, then copied it and said the spell that went with it. Most of the time, she got the spells on the first try, but some took two or more tries to get right.

"Bloody hell, you're burning through those quickly now aren't you?"

Hermione and Ella both looked up at the new voice. Harry was standing in the doorway, with Ron slightly behind him.

_How long have they been standing there? Why are they here?_

"You're back too? God, stop caring so much," Ella joked, smiling back softly.

_Don't smile, dammit._

"I see we weren't the only ones with that idea," Harry said, stepping into the dorm. Ron followed, shutting the door behind him.

"Care to tell us what happened at the Manor?" Ron asked, sitting on Ella's desk. Hermione was on the bed, and Harry chose to remain standing.

_No, I'd rather not._

Ella didn't say anything, just looked down.

 _Dinner should've been over hours ago_. _Where is Julie?_

Instead of responding, Ella rolled up her sleeve quietly. Hermione gasped, staring at the mark.

_Yeah, bet you hate me now._

"You- You're- They- How- When-"

Hermione had lost it, Ron wasn't moving, and Harry just stared at the mark.

"They drugged us and then had _him_ do _that_ ," she said quietly, motioning to the mark on her arm. She knew that Harry, Hermione, and Ron all knew who she was talking about. "None of the others were harmed, or at least I don't think they were. None of us remember what happened," Ella said.

Harry didn't say anything, and neither did the others.

_They hate me._

"I don't know how to get rid of it, but it's hurting and it burns," Ella said, wincing.

"You can't get rid of it," Hermione said quietly. "I don't know why it's burning, but it probably has something to do with Voldemort."

Ron flinched at the name, and Harry finally snapped out of it. "It's probably like my scar," he said, gesturing to the lightning bolt on his forehead. "It burns when he gets more powerful or something, I think."

Ella shrugged and pulled her sleeve back down. "Draco has one too."

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione. They exchanged a look, and Hermione started reaching for her wand. "All I'm saying is that I was right," Harry said, raising his hands and stepping back from Hermione. 

"Right about what?" Ella questioned, staring at them.

"Harry thinks that Malfoy is a Death Eater, and based on that mark, he probably is," Ron answered.

Ella shook her head. "He doesn't want that mark, I promise you."

_He only has it to protect his family._

Harry looked doubtful, but he let it slide.

"You're like, really good at magic, by the way. Are you sure you've never done this before?" Ron asked, looking at her. Ella blushed and looked down. "Thanks, and no. I hadn't even known magic existed until like, two months ago," she said softly.

"You're getting good at these spells," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Harry, would you be willing to teach her _Expecto Patronum_ sometime?"

Harry looked taken aback.

_Hermione, you bloke. He doesn't want to be around me._

"It's just a thought," Hermione added on after seeing his expression. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but it'd be good for her to learn some protection spells."

Harry nodded slowly. "I could teach her in a couple of weeks, once she's more used to using a wand. Does anyone know how long she'll be on lockdown for?"

Ella shook her head. "I don't know. Professor McGonagall didn't give me an estimate for the length of time. By the way, has anyone seen Julie? She was supposed to be back when dinner ended, and I think that was a while ago."

Hermione looked confused. "I thought she didn't have to go on lockdown because she wasn't marked."

"Harry and I could go look for her if you want," Ron said, noticing the worried look on Ella's face.

"If it's not too much trouble, then please do. She might've forgotten because she likes to be out and about, socializing," Ella said.

Harry's lips quirked up at that.

"So you two are kind of... polar opposites?"

Ella smiled at that. "Yeah, she was kind of like an extrovert that adopted me and forced me to meet people. If not for her, I wouldn't have made a lot of my current friends or met my ex-boyfriend." 

Frowning at the words "ex-boyfriend", Ella stopped talking. Ron and Harry left soon after, going to look for Julie.

"So, we can continue with the spells in this book, or we can work on potions in this book. Whichever you prefer," Hermione offered.

Ella looked at the two books in front of her. Sick of spells, she tapped the potions book with her wand. 

"Potions it is!" Hermione said cheerfully. "Harry _hates_ potions, but that's only because he's bad at them. You'll be good at it, I'm sure. Now, where did I put that cauldron..."

Hermione trailed off as she searched the bags she'd brought with her.

 _She fit a fucking_ cauldron _in those bags?_ _Jesus, Hermione._

Ella stared at the wall again, zoning out while Hermione searched some more.

_I hope Julie's okay._


	21. The Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie is found, and the group finds out some things about Ella that they didn't know before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentioned assault/sexual assault, strong language

Julie, unbeknownst to Ella, was fine. She was _more_ than fine. Ron and Harry found her with Ella's ex-boyfriend and left almost immediately after, hoping they hadn't been seen.

"What do we say to her? She probably thinks Julie's dead!" Ron hissed, not wanting to get scolded for yelling in the dorms.

"I don't know! She'll like, attack her or something! They just fixed their friendship, how are we _supposed_ to tell her? Do we just walk up and say 'Hey, your best friend is currently making out with your ex-boyfriend _in his dorm_ .'? I don't think so. You've seen what she can do, Ron," Harry whispered back. They'd searched everywhere for Julie, finally checking the Gryffindor dorms. After looking around the common room, they had started looking in dorms and accidentally stumbled upon... _that_.

"Well, we have to tell her _something_!" Ron said, louder as they walked away from the dorms.

"Then you tell her Ron!" Harry replied, raising his voice.

"Fine!" Ron snapped.

They walked back to Ravenclaw and were let in by Ella. 

"Did you find her?"

She sounded eager. Harry's heart clenched.

"Ella," Harry said softly.

"Is she hurt? Missing? I'm going to go look for her, I'll be right-"

Hermione grabbed her arm as Ella tried to head towards the door, and Ella flinched, pulling away. Ron shot Hermione a look, and Hermione looked apologetic.

"You're on lockdown, you have to stay here," she reminded.

"Ella, she's fine," Ron stated bluntly.

"Then _where_ is she?" Ella questioned, staring at Harry and Ron.

Ron looked down. Ella's face changed.

_The mind-reading!!! Shit!_

Her eyes flashed, malice appearing behind them. "That little bitch. Just wait until I-" 

Malfoy cut her off.

_When did he walk in?_

"Who's a bitch? Also, British insults _only_. You know the rules."

Harry shot Ron a confused look. Hermione looked like she was trying not to smile.

"Julie. She's currently _not here_ and also with my _ex-boyfriend_. Harry, thank you for thinking so loudly. I have to go, see you around," Ella stated stiffly before turning and walking up the stairs.

Ron hesitated, then spoke. "Does... does she know that she's stuck here?"

" _WEASLEY I WILL KILL YOU!" _

Harry chuckled. Ella had heard him and wasn't happy with it. Ron shrank.

"She never calls me Weasley..."

Harry laughed.

"Sounds better than your actual name, if we're being honest," Malfoy fired back. Hermione giggled, smiling at him, and he looked pleased.

Ron frowned, his face settling on a mixture between anger and confusion.

"What happened while we were gone? Suddenly you're all buddy-buddy with _Malfoy_ , who, need I remind you, _got us into this mess_ ," Ron said. Harry nodded slightly, pretending to not notice the tiny flicker of hurt in Malfoy's eyes.

"He didn't mean to," Hermione protested. "Besides, Ella's happy when he's around, and if she's fine with him then that's good enough for me."

Ron pursed his lips together, and Harry started reaching for his wand in case a fight broke out.

"We'll discuss this tomorrow," was all he said. Harry let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Ron left, the common room door slamming slightly behind him.

"So, Malfoy," Harry started. "Going after Ella now, hm?"

Malfoy glared.

"For your information, no one is 'going after' me. No one ever will."

Hermione jumped, then looked towards the stairs. Ella was standing there, an unimpressed look on her face.

_She said the same thing when I accused Malfoy of assaulting her. Why doesn't she say "No one has, and no one ever will."? Has she been abused or violated before?_

"Look at you, quite the detective," Ella scoffed sarcastically, staring straight at Harry.

_You really should've been in Slytherin._

Ella glared at him.

Malfoy shot her a confused look, and she rolled her eyes. His expression changed, and he averted his gaze.

_Guess she told him._

"I'm confused," Hermione said.

"Yeah, I know."

With that, Ella walked up the stairs. This time, they heard the door shut with a _click_ , and Hermione turned to Harry.

"I think I might stay the night here. I don't think she should be alone, and she seems scared."

Harry stared at her. "She looks like normal, I think she's fine. If you want to stay the night here though, go ahead."

Harry left, letting the Ravenclaw door shut soundly behind him.

After making it up to his dorm and flopping into his bed, Harry fell asleep quickly.

His dreams were good.

For once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this! I'm having my chapters edited by a friend, so the previous chapters will be changed once I'm done. If you want to see what's changed, just go back and re-read the fic once it's completed and edited.


	22. The Kiss.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie wakes up in a Gryffindor dorm and Ella sits somewhere new at breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: VERY underage drinking, mentions of VERY underage sex

Julie woke up in a Gryffindor's bed.

 _Shit_.

She'd gone by to see Ryan and make sure he was doing alright after dinner yesterday.

 _Spending Christmas alone isn't good for anyone_ , she'd told herself as she texted him and told him to meet her outside the painting of the fat lady. 

The memories flooded back, fast.

**_"Ryan! How're you doing?"_ **

**_Julie hugged him, holding on for a second longer than she should've._ **

**_He didn't mention it, just smiling._ **

**_"Julie, nice to see you. I'm doing okay, all things considering."_ **

**_Julie smiled apologetically._ **

**_"Ella_ was _being a bitch. She probably wasn't right in the head, I promise she'll come around."_ **

**_Ryan said the passcode and the portrait swung open._ **

**_They walked inside, and he led her to the dorm he was in._ **

**_"I have some alcohol if you're down with drinking."_ **

**_Julie's mouth fell open, shocked._ **

**_"Ryan! We're 14!!"_ **

**_He shrugged._ **

**_"So?"_ **

**_Julie hesitated, then accepted the shot._**

The memory ended.

 _No wonder my head hurts so much. God, Ella is going to_ kill _me._

Another memory flashed.

**_"Ryan, you just don't get it. Shhhe never loved you, I'm telling you."_ **

**_Julie knew her words were starting to slur. She ignored it, downing another shot._**

**_Ryan bit his lip, hesitating._ **

**_"But shee acted likee it!"_ **

**_He was slurring, too, but a little worse._**

The memory stopped, and Julie winced when her head pulsed.

_Wait. Where are my clothes??_

Another memory.

Julie groaned.

**_Ryan had his mouth on her neck, and she had her hands in his hair._ **

**_"We- ah. We- we aren't ever telling Ella about this right?"_ **

**_He bit down on her pulse point, hard enough to leave a mark._ **

**_"I won't tell if you won't."_ **

_I guess things escalated. Shit, I'm so dead. We're both dead. End me. Plan my funeral._

Beside her, Ryan shifted.

"Ryan! Ryan, psst. Wake up! Now! You _have_ to get me out of here, Julie is going to _kill_ me!!"

Ryan slowly opened his eyes, looking at Julie and then at her _very_ naked body and then at the dorm.

"Oh my god..." he murmured. "Oh my god. Oh my god! _Oh my god, we slept together last night_!!!"

Julie nodded, wincing at how loud he was.

"Shit, shit shit shit. You need to get out of here- how can I sneak you out without anyone knowing? What day is it? Are we still on break??"

Julie was too tired to keep up with his questions.

_Maybe I'll just go back to sleep for a little bit..._

Rolling over, she hit Ryan with some of the blankets.

"Shut up. I changed my mind, I want to sleep, be quiet."

To her surprise, Ryan was quiet.

Julie closed her eyes.

_Please don't let Ella kill me._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco woke up to Lucas' snoring.

_Ugh._ _I_ _hate this._

He got up and got dressed, then went to breakfast. Not even a minute after he sat down, he heard a quiet voice.

"Can I sit here?"

The Slytherin table he was at went silent.

Looking up, he saw Ella. Smiling softly, he didn't say anything.

 _Of course you can_.

He moved over a small bit, and Ella sat next to him. 

Nobody moved.

"Feeling better since last night?" he asked, nudging her. She didn't tense up like she normally did.

 _Making progress_.

She nodded.

"Yeah, we should go over some of the spells Hermione was teaching me though, I'm confused about a couple."

Draco laughed softly, and she glared at him.

"What?" he asked. "You already know the spells, you'll be fine. Don't stress about it."

Ella scoffed and pushed him lightly. Small gasps were heard from around the table. Draco glanced around, and everyone was still staring at him and Ella.

"What?"

Embarrassed, the kids looked down and went back to eating. Pansy and Blaise said nothing, but the smirks on their faces were obvious.

_Well, they can fuck right off._

Ella coughed beside him, no doubt covering up a laugh.

"No American insults, you know the rules," she said quietly.

 _This is the best breakfast I've ever had, hands down_.

"You're too sweet," Ella said sarcastically.

His friends were probably sending him confused looks.

_Dorms, ten minutes?_

A tiny nod.

Draco smiled.

This day was just going to get better and better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella met Draco in his dorm at Ravenclaw ten minutes later, just like he asked.

"So, why'd you want me to meet you here? I mean, not like I'd ever say no, but you normally don't ask me to meet you alone."

**_Want to kiss you._ **

Ella didn't move.

**_If you're okay with it. We don't have to do anything further, I won't make you._ **

"Yes."

Draco stopped trying to talk. 

_Stunned him into silence. Hermione would be proud._

He walked forward, slowly, and Ella smirked.

"Hurry up, _Malfoy,_ you're taking too lo-"

And then his lips were on hers and Ella was suddenly _very_ overwhelmed because _oh my god_ , Draco's a _really_ good kisser.

It was over _way_ too quickly, and Ella was pretty sure her legs stopped working.

Draco chuckled lowly, and Ella felt it rumble through her.

_Legs aren't working._

**_That good, hm?_ **

_You wish._

That earned her an actual laugh from Draco, and she hummed quietly against his chest. Gently, he moved her over to the bed in his room and sat down, Ella shifting so she was on his lap. They stayed like that for a while, Draco with his chin on Ella's head, and Ella curled into a small ball in his lap. Neither said anything. They didn't need to.

"Oh, by the way, I'm going to fucking kill Julie for what she did."

Draco laughed.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter! Happy reading! :)


	23. Her Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie fights with Ella, and Ella shows off a talent the others didn't know she had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Strong language

Julie (who had fallen back asleep for a bit), was now fully awake and was also currently freaking out.

"I'm so dead! Ryan, I'm so dead. Ella probably knows, she's going to _kill_ me!"

Ryan wasn't looking at her.

"Just leave, Julie. Please."

Julie stared at Ryan, stunned. 

"Ryan, what are you talking about?"

"It was a mistake, Julie. Please go. I don't want to speak with you about this anymore."

Julie's jaw dropped.

_A mistake?_

"But Ella's going to be so pissed at me!"

"And she should. We-" he pointed a finger back and forth at him and Julie, "-should not have done this. You need to leave."

Julie didn't say anything for a minute. Finally, she huffed and left, angry. Storming back to Ravenclaw, Julie walked up to go back to her dorm, terrified of what might be waiting for her. Going as quietly as possible, she froze when she heard Ella's voice.

"Oh, by the way, I'm going to fucking kill Julie for what she did."

Laughter from someone- Julie couldn't place it.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

Julie's blood ran cold.

_She knows._

Deciding that relaxing in bed wasn't worth the beating she would take from Ella, Julie went to the library.

"Hey Ron, Harry! How're you guys?"

Neither looked up.

"Ron? Harry? You guys good?"

Harry glared at her, and Ron still didn't move.

"Okay, enough. Why are you mad at me?? I didn't DO anything!"

Julie threw her hands up in the air, exasperated.

"Shh!" the librarian hissed. Julie glared at her.

_Old bat._

"I think you know what you did, Julie," Harry said, looking back down at the textbook he was reading.

"So that's it? Everyone knows now? I don't know why you all hate me! It was _one_ night! I've had chances before and I didn't take them! Honestly, I deserved this. Ella didn't deserve Ryan, _I_ did. I'm sorry you aren't happy with me going after someone she _broke up with_ and _cheated on._ "

Harry and Ron were both staring at her angrily. Harry opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the librarian.

"Young lady! Out! Now!"

The librarian watched as Julie left, with Harry and Ron glaring after her.

_How does everyone know?_

Sighing, Julie headed outside. 

_At least there I can get some fresh air, away from people_.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella must've fallen asleep because when she woke up she was laying down and Draco was gone. A note was on the table next to it, saying Draco had gone to dinner and would be back soon.

 _I wish I could go outside_.

Being on lockdown sucked, but at least she had friends to spend time with.

Stretching and yawning, Ella got up and went back to her dorm, freezing as soon as she stepped into the room.

_Julie._

Julie had headphones on and was looking at something on her phone.

"Accio phone," Ella muttered, not knowing if trying to do a spell without her wand would work yet.

_If this worked, I would be amazin-_

The phone flew into her hand, yanking Julie's headphones off of her ears.

"What the- _oh_."

Ella, holding Julie's phone (with headphones still attached), stared at her.

"Yeah. _Oh_."

Julie spluttered for an excuse, _any_ excuse.

"Ella, you don't understand, I-"

Ella shook her head.

"Save it. I don't want to hear your sorry-ass excuse. I thought you were _dead_. You didn't show up for _hours_ , and _now_ you come back? After two of my _friends_ had to come and find you with _him._ We're on _lockdown_ , Julie. You're risking _my_ safety by fucking _my_ ex-boyfriend behind _my_ back. Get out."

Julie's mouth fell open, and Ella felt smug.

_I'm spending too much time with that Slytherin, aren't I?_

She smiled to herself, then realized Julie was still there.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Get out."

Slowly, Julie walked towards the door, grabbing her phone back from Ella on the way.

After she left, she heard soft slow-clapping from behind her.

_I swear to god if that's who I think it is..._

"That was a good one! Wait 'til Malfoy hears about this one, you'll make him proud."

She smiled, relieved. 

_It's only Ron. And probably Harry. But mostly Ron_.

"Glad you're on okay terms with him now, Weasley."

"Ugh, don't call me that."

Ella smiled.

"Why is everyone so upset with me calling them by their last names? I don't get it. Potter, do you know why?"

Harry choked on what he was drinking. Ella smirked.

"Perhaps it's because it doesn't sound natural when _you're_ saying it."

Ella's head snapped up, finding Draco almost immediately.

"Oh yeah? What's that supposed to mean, _Malfoy_?"

Draco stared her down. Ella didn't move, keeping the same expression on her face.

**_You're a little prick, you know that?_ **

Ella laughed.

_Your surface mind is rubbish, you know that?_

**_I hate you._ **

_Hate you too, love._

Draco coughed, and Ella smiled sweetly.

_Nicknames are his thing, hm? Interesting._

Harry, Ron, and Hermione (when had she gotten there?) all looked confused.

"So, anyway," Ella said, glancing around. "Was there something you needed?"

"Well, we _were_ going to warn you about Julie, but it looks like you took care of that. Nice wandless magic, by the way," Ron said. Ella shot him a look, which Ron returned with just as much passion.

"You did _what_?"

Hermione looked stunned.

"I didn't do anything!" Ella protested.

"I saw you cast accio wandless. Don't lie," Ron said.

"Is this true?" Harry asked, looking surprised.

"Accio," Ella muttered, walking over to her desk. Harry yelped, and his wand flew into her palm.

"Nice wand," she said simply, setting it down.

Harry stared at the wand, now sitting on the table.

Opening a textbook, Ella got to work on some homework that was due tomorrow.

Hearing nothing, she turned around and saw four faces staring back at her.

"Well? Are you staying or leaving? I don't have all day."

"Slytherin," Ron muttered.

Ella stared at him, unblinking.

"Whatever you say, Ronald."

With that, she turned and went back to work, ignoring the rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a kudos if you enjoyed! Happy reading! :)


	24. The Ex.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella's having a shitty day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Harassment

Ryan was hurrying to the Great Hall, once again late for breakfast. On his way there, he bumped into someone.

"Shit, I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

Looking up at the person he bumped into, Ryan froze.

_Ella._

She glanced him up and down, an unfamiliar emotion in her eyes. Turning, she began to walk away.

 _Don't let her walk away_.

Grabbing her wrist, Ryan pulled her back.

"Ella, wait!"

She jerked her wrist out of his hand so harshly it hurt.

"Don't touch me."

Ryan frowned.

"Ella... I still love you. I know you don't like that British asshole, so come back to me."

She glared at him.

_That was the wrong thing to say, wasn't it?_

"I happen to like that 'British asshole', so if you'll _excuse_ me, I'm trying to get to the Hall for breakfast. Don't talk to me anymore."

She left, and Ryan let her go.

_I'll get her back, just you watch. That British twat won't be around for much longer._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella flopped down into the seat next to Draco. By now, the Slytherins had accepted her sitting there. This didn't mean they talked to her, but they tolerated her, and she was grateful for that.

"What happened to you?"

The voice was unfamiliar, wasn't Draco's.

_No one talks to me here._

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Ella asked, looking into the face of a girl with jet-black hair and emerald eyes. 

_Draco knows this girl, right?_

"No, but I know you and how you normally look. Right now, you look awful. Offense meant."

 _He_ has _to know her, or she wouldn't be talking to me._

The girl sat down across from her.

"Name's Pansy. Pansy Parkinson."

Ella nodded.

"I would introduce myself but you already know who I am. Also, you're wrong. I always look amazing," Ella replied, throwing Pansy a cheeky wink.

Pansy rolled her eyes.

"Oh, _please_ , I know boy trouble when I see it. So do tell me, who's the unlucky guy?"

Ella sighed.

_Where's Draco when you need him?_

"His name's Ryan. I broke it off with him before break because of some... things that caused a rift in our relationship. Now he won't leave me alone, and is begging me to get back with him."

Pansy frowned.

"I don't know much about you, but Draco likes you. If you hurt him, I'll hurt you. As long as you're together, though, I'll keep Ryan away from you."

Ella smiled at Pansy, who smiled back.

_We could be friends someday._

"Okay. You've got yourself a deal."

She held out her hand for Pansy to shake.

"I didn't offer you a deal-"

Ella shook her head.

"I don't hurt Draco, and in return, you keep Ryan away. That's a deal, whether you say 'deal' or not."

Pansy nodded, then shook Ella's outstretched hand.

"Am I interrupting something?"

 _Oh so_ now _he gets here._

Draco looked at Ella and Pansy, confused.

"Nope!" Pansy said cheerfully. "I was just leaving. See you around, Draco!"

He sat down next to Ella. 

"What was that about?"

Ella shrugged. 

"Just getting to know Pansy," she answered, smiling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella flopped on to the bed in the Ravenclaw dorm with a sigh. Julie had stopped staying with her after the fight, so she was alone.

 _What a shitty day_.

After breakfast, she'd gone to her dorm, where her phone had promptly blown up by Julie's apologies.

_Blocked._

Not bothering to read them, Ella had tried to focus on some of the things she needed to catch up on.

_Charms, potions, spells, dark arts, there are too many subjects._

Unable to get anything done due to the overwhelming feeling she got when she looked at the work, Ella had headed to lunch. Pansy hadn't shown, but Ryan had, and he harassed her for almost all of lunch.

_"He's just a British nobody, you know you love me instead. Just come back to me, doll. You won't regret it."_

Draco had stepped in once he'd seen her near tears from across the hall. She'd been sitting at the Ravenclaw table that day because she hadn't wanted to talk to anyone.

_He interfered a little too late._

So now, here Ella was, skipping dinner and hiding in her room. She'd cast a locking spell and a silencing spell on the door (thank you, Hermione), and intended on screaming until her lungs gave out and her voice was raw and sore.

A knock on the door, however, told her that wouldn't be happening.

"El? El, you in there?"

_Hermione._

She didn't remember when she'd given Hermione permission to call her El, but she assumed that it didn't matter. Removing the silencing spell, she responded to Hermione.

"What do you need, Hermione?"

Silence. More knocking.

"Nothing- El, just let me in, I need to talk to you."

 _I don't want to_.

"No, I'm good. Had a rather crappy day, I don't need your news to make my day worse."

The knocking stopped.

"El, come on, it's really important," coaxed a different voice.

_Harry's here too. Great._

"No, now go away and let me scream my heart out in peace. And stop calling me 'El', you don't ever call me that."

Silence again. The door opened, and Harry walked in. Nobody followed him.

"I told you to go away."

He sat on the bed. Ella ignored him. A few minutes later, someone else walked in.

"What _now_?"

A soft laugh sounded, one that Ella recognized.

"Didn't know you hated me so much," Draco remarked. "Why's Potter here?"

Ella shrugged. "Don't know. He and Hermione have something to tell me and I don't want to hear it. My day has been absolute shit, and I don't need bad news to make it worse."

Harry made a sound of annoyance. Ella ignored it.

**_We could just go to my dorm._ **

Ella snorted, glancing at Draco.

_Not a chance, Malfoy._

Harry made another sound, this one of confusion.

"Potter, do us both a favor and _leave_ ," Draco said. Harry shook his head.

Ella rolled her eyes, muttering something under her breath.

"Pardon?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing," Ella said, blinking innocently. Her breathing sped up for a second and Draco looked at her, concern in his eyes.

_I'm fine, Malfoy._

**_Sure._ **

Another eye roll, this one from Draco.

"I just wanted to say that-"

Ella cut him off.

"Not today, Harry. _Please_. Not today. Tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that, but _not today_."

Harry nodded but didn't move.

"Well, Potter? Going to leave?"

Ella shook her head at Draco.

"He can stay, I don't mind the company."

Ella stared at her wall again.

_I'm starting to see patterns on the walls, I'm going insane._

Sighing, she looked at Draco, who was still standing.

"Sit down already, jeez. Might as well stay the night, both of you. I'm bored out of my mind in here, I can't focus on my school work, my best friend currently hates me, and my ex-boyfriend keeps harassing me. This day _literally_ couldn't get any worse."

Draco sat on the floor, messing with a loose string on the carpet.

"Well," he started. "At least things can only go up from this, right?"

Ella nodded.

_At least things can only go up._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in a bit! Updates for these stories will be farther apart now that I have other things to do, hope you guys don't mind. Happy reading! :)


	25. The Locked Door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella locks the dorm door before she leaves for the day, deciding to ignore the lockdown rules. What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of war/fighting, mild depictions of violence/blood

Nico wiped some sweat off of his forehead. He'd been back at camp for a while now, fighting in the war. Ella hadn't seemed to notice when he Iris-messaged her, and if she did, she didn't say anything.

Slicing his sword through another monster, he winced at the cut in his side. He'd gotten hit a while ago, and he ran out of ambrosia yesterday.

"Nico, you doing alright?" Percy asked, running up to where he was standing.

"Yeah," Nico panted, flipping his sword and catching it when it morphed back into a ring. Percy must've capped his blade because Nico didn't see it anywhere.

"We'll find you some ambrosia or nectar soon, I promise," he told Nico, looking at the gash in his side. Annabeth came up and joined the two, dirt smeared across her face and arms. They were losing the war pretty badly, but none of the demigods had given up yet. Nico didn't want to tell Ella, but he'd have to at some point.

"Chiron said we're headed north tonight. Might get a chance to surprise those goblin things," Annabeth relayed, looking at the two. Percy looked a little worse than Nico did, but Percy also wasn't bleeding out.

"I'll have someone stitch that up for you when we get back to camp," she said, nodding at Nico's side.

"Thanks, Annabeth. Do me a favor and don't tell Ella about this, okay?"

Annabeth narrowed her eyes.

"You told us that you messaged her and explained where you were. You _did_ do that, right?"

Nico looked away. Annabeth's wrath wasn't going to be pretty.

"You _lied_ to us? Now? She has to know, Nico. She's just as much of a part of this war as we are, and you know it."

Percy stepped in before Annabeth could fully start hurling insults at Nico.

"We can discuss this later, Annabeth, when Nico _isn't_ bleeding out. Let's go, both of you."

Sighing, Nico followed Percy back to camp, clutching his side carefully.

 _Ella is going to kill me when she finds out about this_.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione woke up early on Saturday.

_Only one more day of break._

She searched the Gryffindor common room for Harry, then left and went to breakfast. Sitting next to Ron, they chatted quietly about where Harry might be since he hadn't come back to the dorm last night.

"He wouldn't have stayed the night in Ravenclaw, right? Ella would never let him, and Draco probably would've _killed_ him if he tried," Ron whispered to Hermione, not wanting the other people at their table to overhear.

"At this point, I don't know," she answered, just as quietly.

They finished breakfast in silence, then left to go their separate ways. Before Hemione left, Ron called out to her.

"Hermione?"

"Yeah?"

She turned to face Ron, who looked nervous.

"Something wrong, Ron? Do you need me to take you to Madam Pomfrey?"

He rocked back and forth on his feet.

"I was wondering, -Merlin's beard, this is so stupid- but do you want to come with me to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

Hermione hesitated.

"Like, just the two of us? Or will Harry be there? Because if Harry's there, I'd rather not go, he's such a buzzkill sometimes," she said quickly, looking at Ron sheepishly.

"Erm- yeah, I was hoping it would be just the two of us if you don't mind."

By now, Ron's face was redder than Hermione had ever seen it, and she smiled.

"I'd like nothing more."

Ron brightened. "Great! So I'll tell you the exact time at dinner and then we can spend a couple of hours there?"

Hermione nodded.

"You've got yourself a date, Weasley," she responded, winking as she said his last name. Turning swiftly, Hermione left to go to the library, not looking back. Finding Harry could wait- she needed to figure out how dates worked first.

_Maybe there's a book on it in the restricted section._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella woke up late. She knew it was late because the sun had decided it was it's time to shine.

_What time is it?_

Groggily, she moved to check her phone, which she realized had forgotten to charge last night and had left on the desk. While walking to the desk, Ella tripped over something- or rather, someone.

_Oh, right. Draco and Harry are here._

Grabbing a brush, she quickly got her hair under control, then got changed in the bathroom and left, locking the door as she went.

_They know how to unlock it, they'll be fine._

Unlocking her phone, she ignored the messages that were popping up and checked the time.

_12:44pm. I haven't slept that late in a while._

Looking at the messages, she saw they were from Julie.

_I thought I blocked her._

**11:30 AM: Hey, u up?**

**11:31 AM: I wanted 2 apologize for what i did. I shouldnt have done it and im sorry.**

**11:32 AM: Ella, i know ur up. Just respond, plz. I need 2 know u arent mad at me anymore**

**12:44 PM: Yeah, well fuck u 2 u psycho bitch. Im trying to apologize and ur ignoring me. How dare u! No one ignores me! Ull regret this ella.**

**12:44 PM: Im sorry for that last text, im just mad and sad. Plz forgive me or respond so i can meet w/ u and talk w/ u in person.**

_Ugh. Blocked. Again._

Lunch was ending when she got to the hall, so Ella turned and started to go back to her dorm.

_So SICK of this dorm._

Hesitating, Ella stopped for a second.

_I could go back to the dorm, or I could go to the library and study._

Turning towards the library, Ella started in that direction, then stopped

_But I could also head to the bathroom and contact Nico._

She had all the things to make a rainbow and even had some golden drachmas in her pocket.

Changing her mind (again), she headed in the direction of the first-floor bathrooms. Turning on the sink and adding light from her wand, she made a rainbow and tossed in a drachma.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering," she muttered, waiting for the picture to form.

Nico appeared, bloody and dirty.

"Nico?"

He looked up, startled.

"Ella?"

"Why are you all dirty? Where are you? Are those kids behind you _fighting_? Are you at the war?"

Nico looked away, and Percy and Annabeth walked up to him.

"Hey, Nico. Chiron wants to move ca- Ella! So glad to see you. How've you been?"

Ella glared at him.

"Save it, Percy. I can't believe you lied to me." 

Ella waved a hand, and the picture faded.

_The start of my day is going great._

Leaving the bathroom, she turned and went to the library.

_Fuck the lockdown, I have a life to live._

Even if that life consisted of nothing more than studying, eating, and sleeping. 

Opening the double doors to the library, she walked inside and stopped.

So.

Many.

Books.

"Oh, I'm in heaven," she murmured, walking over to the nearest bookshelf and pulling out a book labeled "Hippogriffs: How to care for them and where to find them". 

_This is going to be_ so _much fun._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco woke up a while after Ella had left, and he'd only woken up because Potter had thrown several pillows at him.

"Get up you bloke, Ella's gone and we're locked in."

Draco stared at him.

"You're joking, right? Just unlock it."

Potter pointed his wand at the door and muttered "Alohamora," then tried the doorknob. It didn't open.

"What in bloody hell did she cast?" Draco asked. "Let me try, you must be doing it wrong, Potter."

Draco pointed his wand at the door and quietly said "Alohamora," then got up from where he was laying on the ground and tried the door. Nothing.

"How did she even lock it like that? I thought that there was only one locking spell," Potter commented, staring at the door.

"I heard the Aurors might have some secret spells, but she's not an Auror, so she doesn't know any of those, right?"

Potter stared at Draco.

"By chance... would he-who-must-not-be-named know any of those?"

Draco stared at the door.

"I don't know, probably. That's if they even exist, though."

Potter looked down, not answering. Draco continued.

"She probably subconsciously found it when she found that counter-charm to those bindings. Maybe it stuck with her? Has Granger taught her the locking spell yet?"

Potter shrugged.

"No idea."

Draco stared at the door.

"Well, we're stuck here. Should we see if we can use that laptop-thingy she's always on? I've been curious about it for a while now."

Potter nodded.

"Let's break some shite."

Turning his back on the door, Draco looked at the "laptop". How do they open it?

Potter reached out hesitantly. Normally, Draco would laugh, but he was probably more scared of it than Potter was.

"What if it kills me when I touch it? What if she has a curse on it? What if-"

Draco rolled his eyes and reached out to open the laptop, fighting the urge to cast a spell and make it disappear. It didn't kill him. Lifting that top piece made the whole thing light up, and both boys took a step back. 

"Merlin's beard... why did it do that?"

Draco ignored Potter. The time was shown on the screen, along with Ella's name at the top. In the bottom left corner was a notification.

_ "Paper for Vet Med due at midnight" _

He didn't know what 'Vet-Med' was, so he ignored it. There was a board on the bottom half that had little plastic pieces, each with a letter written on it.

"Do we press them?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Potter."

"Harry."

Draco looked at Potter, confused.

"What?"

"Call me Harry."

He rolled his eyes.

"I'm not calling you Harry, Potter."

"Why not?"

Draco didn't know why. Calling Potter _Harry_ just felt... wrong.

"I don't want to, and nobody tells a Malfoy what to do."

"Whatever you say, Draco."

He glared at Har- _Potter._

"Don't call me that."

Potter reached out to press a key on the bottom half of the laptop. When he did, the screen rolled up and had a space that said "PIN".

_What's a 'PIN'?_

Underneath the "pin", there were two other buttons:

One with 10 dots, and one with a rectangle that was half-filled in with a little "I" on it.

"What do we do now?"

Draco stared at the screen.

"No idea," he murmured.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ron and Hermione had met up with Ella at dinner, and none of the three had seen Draco or Harry at all.

"With our luck, they probably secretly made up and are shagging right now."

"I could actually see that," Ella remarked, laughing.

Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"You aren't bothered by that at all? Aren't you and Dra- _Malfoy_ dating?"

Ella shrugged.

"We've kissed like, once, and there isn't a label on it. He can do what he pleases, I'm not going to pressure him into anything," she said.

Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione shot him a look and shut him up.

"I heard you two were going on a date tomorrow. Do tell," she said.

Hermione blushed and looked away while Ron started stammering.

"It- um, it's- uh, not a _date_ , per se," he said, stuttering through the sentence.

"Yeah! We're just going to Hogsmeade. Two best friends going somewhere platonically. Not a date at all."

Ella shrugged. She knew it was a date. She also knew it was time for her to leave. Third-wheeling _sucked_.

"For what it's worth, you'd make a cute couple."

She left to go to her dorm, tired from all the reading she'd done earlier. When she got to the door, she heard talking from inside.

_Could they not unlock it?_

"Alohamora," she said, opening the door when it unlocked.

The boys inside jumped, turning towards her and looking guilty. Her laptop was open behind them, now locked for 24 hours (or until she answered the email she'd received from Microsoft support).

Mouth falling open, she looked around. Candy wrappers, blankets, and pillows were everywhere. Her desk was also trashed, with papers all over it. Harry and Draco both looked flustered.

_What in the world?_

"What did you guys _do_??"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been super anxious and kind of depressed. However, the updates will hopefully be closer together and won't be almost a month apart. Happy reading! :))


	26. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella finds out why her dorm room is trashed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Threatened violence, strong language
> 
> **I do not own Microsoft or any of its properties nor do I own Gmail or any of its properties. Please don't sue me, thank you!

Harry and Draco looked at each other. Wordlessly, Ella locked the door behind her.

"Well?"

They looked at each other, then back at her. She flipped the coin in her pocket and brought out the sword.

"If you do not tell me why the  _ fuck _ my room is trashed in the  _ next five seconds _ , I will personally  _ force  _ it out of you."

Harry opened his mouth.

"Well, we couldn't unlock the door, so we tried to open your laptop. When that didn't work, we got hungry and ate some candy bars," he said quietly.

Ella looked at Draco. He didn't move.

_ Why do you both look like you've been making out for the past 30 minutes? _

She waited for a response.

"Draco, I'm waiting. Any day now."

She got a reply, but it went so fast she couldn't read it.

"Either you do it this way or you say it out loud."

Harry looked confused. Ella didn't explain anything.

**_ Maybebecausewewere. _ **

"Clearer, please."

**_ Maybe because we were. _ **

Ella didn't say anything.

"Damn. If Ron, Hermione and I had placed bets, I'd owe them both money."

"No, you would not!" Draco protested.

"Yes, I would. They called this while we were eating dinner. By the way, I brought dinner back for both of you. Don't know if you're still hungry, though," Ella said calmly, enjoying the way both Harry and Draco's faces reddened.

**_ Sorry. _ **

She shrugged.

"I don't care, if I'm honest."

Harry still looked confused.

"He's talking to me mentally, Harry."

"Oh," he said softly, looking down.

**_ But I cheated on you? _ **

"Draco, we never decided on what we are. If you want to fuck Harry, be my guest. Don't trash my room, though."

Harry looked up.

"Okay, we didn't mess up the room on purpose, that happened because we were mad at the laptop. We also didn't 'fuck', " he said using air quotes around the word 'fuck'.

Ella laughed.

"Whatever you say."

Harry flushed an even darker red.

"Stupid American cuss words," he muttered as if he was embarrassed to be using them.

**_ If you don't care, why are you embarrassing Har- Potter so much? _ **

_ Because it's fun. Besides, I've always liked the way red looks on him. Such a pretty color, don't you think? _

Draco choked on nothing, and Ella laughed again.

"This is too easy," she said, sitting next to Draco and leaning against him.

"Do you guys want the food I brought or not?"

Both boys nodded and she handed Harry the bag that she had with her.

**_ I hate you. _ **

_ Well if you didn't then this would be no fun, wouldn't it? _

**_ Are you into me or not? _ **

_ Oh, Draco... _

_ You'll just have to wait and find out. _

He rolled his eyes, then took the food Harry offered him.

"Roll your eyes at me again and see what happens, I dare you," Ella said almost immediately.

Draco almost rolled his eyes again, then decided against it.

"Good," she said simply, reaching for her laptop. "Now I have to sort this out."

Draco and Harry stopped eating and stared at her.

"What?" Ella asked, confused.

"Can we watch so we know how to use a 'laptop' if we need to again?" Harry questioned, taking another bite out of his food.

"Sure," she said softly, returning to the laptop. Pulling out her phone, she tapped a few times and opened Gmail. Then, she tapped something on that and read what popped up.

"What are you doing?"

Ella looked up when Harry spoke, a little irritated that she had to stop working to answer questions. She had a paper due today, dammit.

"I'm looking at the email from Microsoft support to reset my passcode so I can sign in again," she answered.

"What does that me-"

"It means, Harry, that I have to reset the lock on my computer before I can unlock it again."

She was being short with him and she knew it, but she didn't care.

_ Please enter a new passcode _

Ella thought for a second, then pressed some of the keys on the keyboard.

_ 5SVm'\bP _

_ Password strength: Stong _

Clicking continue, the laptop lock screen scrolled up and her desktop background showed.

"Thank God," she murmured, opening a writing app. She started to finish her paper, glad that nothing had happened to it when they'd locked her out of her laptop.

_ If they do this again, I'm going to kill them. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is shorter than normal, I was struggling to think of things. This book will hopefully be wrapping up soon (I might gloss over a few major things, like finding the portkeys and I'm sorry, but I don't want to bore the readers with my poor writing) Nevertheless, happy reading! :))


	27. The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione and Ron go on their date, Draco and Ella get up to some things, and Nico fights in the war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood, violence, mentions of underage sex.

Ron woke up quite early for a Sunday. It was the last day of break, which was both good and bad. Also, he had a date today. With Hermione. 

And he was terrified.

At dinner last night he'd told Hermione that they'd leave around 11, which would give them time to get to Hogsmeade and enjoy the day there, then leave and get back to Hogwarts before curfew.

_What do you wear to Hogsmeade for a date? Something casual? Fancy? Business casual? What even_ is _business casual?_

Ron sighed, then looked through his clothes again.

Today was going to be a long day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Little did Ron know, Hermione was having the same problem. Finally, she decided on something casual but styled her hair a little. Slipping on her robes, she put her wand in her pocket and went to go meet Ron in the hall. On the way there, she ran into Harry, who looked tired.

"We were looking for you yesterday Harry! Where were you?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Just busy, Hermione. Have fun on your date, I'm going to get some rest. See you tomorrow," he said, leaving.

_How does he know?_

Hermione waited at the entrance to the hall for Ron. When he finally showed up, it was 11:10.

"Hermione! I'm so sorry I'm late! Harry just came back and I wanted to talk to him," he explained quickly, looking guilty.

Hermione shrugged.

"It's fine, you're here now. Ready for our not-date-date?"

Ron blushed and nodded. 

_He's cute._

"Then let's go," Hermione said, walking off with Ron. 

_This is going to be_ so _much fun._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ella woke up to a dead laptop beside her and a sleeping Draco on her shoulder. Harry was nowhere to be found.

Nudging him, Ella tried to shake him awake.

"Draco," she whispered. "Hey, Draco. Wake up."

Slowly, he stirred.

_You're so cute when you're asleep._

"Mm, you're not bad yourself," he mumbled sleepily.

_Does Sleepy Draco flirt?_

"I don't flirt," he mumbled again.

_Doesn't match what you just said, doll._

He stiffened.

_Sorry, I couldn't resist. Breakfast is starting soon, let's go, babe._

"Oh my _god_ , I hate you," he said, sitting up.

"Yeah, hate you too love," she said, winking when he blushed.

_Too easy, really. So glad nicknames are your thing._

Draco snorted, fixing his hair. Stopping just in front of the door, he turned back to her.

"On second thought, maybe we should skip breakfast," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer.

"Mhmm, and why would we do that?" she asked quietly, letting him pepper kisses to her jaw.

"Hungry for something else," he whispered in her ear.

"That's something I can get behind," Ella murmured back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione and Ron had a blast at Hogsmeade, spending hours exploring the shops. Sure, they'd been there before, but it had never been just them. Normally, they were getting teased by Malfoy and his goons. Besides, school would start tomorrow, so the place was pretty much empty, most kids choosing instead to stay home and prepare for classes.

Walking hand-in-hand, they got ready to leave, bags filled with treats by their sides. 

"We should do this again sometime," Hermione said, smiling.

"You're right," Ron replied.

Heading back to Hogwarts for dinner, they met up with Ella and Harry to t talk.

"Draco can't make it," Ella said, messing with her clothes. She still wasn't wearing the proper uniform, and Hermione didn't think she was ever going to. 

"Wh's tha?" Ron asked, shoveling food into his mouth. Hermione sent him a look, and he swallowed before asking again.

"Sorry. Why's that?"

"He's come down with something," Ella said softly. 

Hermione didn't talk much during dinner, too busy thinking about what had happened that day. When they left to go to bed, she bid Harry, Ron, and Ella a goodnight before heading to her room, falling asleep almost immediately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nico slashed another monster, watching as it turned to dust. Distracted by that, he didn't notice the thing sneaking up behind him.

"Nico! Behind you!"

Turning too slowly, the goblin-shaped monster sliced across his chest. Blood went everywhere, spraying him in the face. Falling to the ground, he screamed in pain.

"Shit! Hold on!" Percy called, clearly tired from the fighting.

More growls from the monsters erupted, and Nico knew there were too many. 

The world was getting fuzzy. Had the world always been this fuzzy?

Deciding that a little sleep might be good for him, he closed his eyes, unable to hear the shouts of his teammates as they yelled for him to stay awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm back and off of my hiatus. Sorry that this chapter is short, I'm working on getting back into the swing of things before school starts and I can only write on weekends. Leave a kudos if you enjoyed and be sure to leave a comment if you have criticism! I appreciate anything you have to say that might help make my writing better. Stay safe and happy reading! :)


	28. The War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico gets hurt, so Percy and Annabeth try to help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Graphic depictions of blood, death
> 
> **Please be warned: I came very close to tears while writing this, so read at your own risk.

"We have to get him to a hospital as soon as we can, Annabeth." 

Percy was beside Nico, trying to stop the bleeding.

"It's not stopping!"

She sounded panicked as she watched Percy try and soak up the blood. 

"Do we have any nectar or ambrosia? That normally works, right?"

Percy shook his head. 

"We ran out days ago... There's no more until the next shipment arrives."

"Fuck," she swore, dropping her dagger. She was bleeding as well, but her injuries could wait. Nico was dying, they needed to help him.

"Can we apply direct pressure?"

Percy shook his head again.

"The wound is too big, we can't apply pressure equally.

While they were discussing what to do, Nico opened his eyes.

"Oh thank god! Hang in there Nico, we're going to get help."

Annabeth smiled at him softly, trying to hide the worry in her eyes.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Percy stopped him.

"Save your energy, bud. You need to stay alive."

Nico smiled at the two sadly, then took Annabeth's hand in his right hand and Percy's hand in his left.

"I'm not... going to make it."

Annabeth shook her head furiously, shaking the tears away.

"Don't say that! We're going to get you back to base- Chiron is going to patch you up in no time."

Percy didn't say anything but looked away, unable to make contact with either of them."You know-" he took a breath, breathing labored, "-that I won't make it that far."

A tear slid down her cheek.

"You can't die! You have so many people to live for! You need to make it to the end of the war!"

He reached out to her, hand covered in blood.

"Tell Will that I'll look out for him."

Taking another deep inhale, he coughed, spitting up blood and getting it everywhere. Annabeth looked away for a second, tears flowing freely.

"Tell Ella that I'm sorry."

Percy opened his mouth to speak, also crying, but Nico shushed him.

"And tell the others that I wanted to make it so, so badly."

He was crying now too, tears mixing with the blood.

Percy looked at him and shook his head.

"Tell them yourself."

Nico smiled again, this one calmer.  
"I won't make it to camp."  
He coughed again, this time even more violent than before. Spitting up more blood, he gagged.  
"I- I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your wedding or watch your kids grow up."  
Annabeth didn't move.

"You're going to make it, Nico. Don't talk like that," Percy tried again, but his voice was breaking.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't focused. That I-" 

He broke his sentence off, coughing furiously. 

"I'm not going to last much longer. Look out for the others for me, please. I'm sorry I was so aloof. If I had the chance to do it again, I'd do everything differently."

He gasped for air again, his breathing ragged.

"I'll tell dad you guys said hi."

Annabeth shook her head again, crying harder.

"No- no, you can't be leaving. Don't do this to us, Nico. Please."

He closed his eyes, saying two words before he took his final breath.

"I'm sorry."

Annabeth buried her face in her hands, crying harder than she ever had in her life. 

"He's- he's not coming back," she said, hiccupping in between sobs.

"I know."

"We- we didn't even try to get to know him."

She'd never cried before, not like this. Annabeth had always brushed Nico to the side, put him off as the weird one who didn't like talking. She had wanted nothing to do with him, didn't want to talk to him or eat with him. Now, he was dead, and she hadn't taken the chance to know him while he was still alive.

"I know."

"Are we horrible people for that?"

Percy didn't answer for a second, and Annabeth turned to look at him.

"Maybe."

They sat there for a while longer, thinking about everything.

"We should head back- there might be more of those goblin-things out here."

She nodded, standing. Everything felt weird. Her limbs felt like they weren't her own, almost like she was being controlled by something else.

They reached camp, quietly telling Chiron of the news before heading to Percy's cabin to go to bed.

"We should iris message Ella..." Percy said quietly, changing into pajamas.

"We can tomorrow. She doesn't have to know- yet."

He nodded, laying down and closing his eyes.

"Night, Annabeth."

"Goodnight, Percy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a sad (but fun) one to write! I hope you're all doing well and that you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to leave a kudos if you enjoyed and comment if you have criticism or something you want to say about the story! It really helps motivate me to write more :). Nevertheless, stay safe and happy reading! :)


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